Jonathan Diller, an NYPD officer, was shot and killed during a traffic check on Monday.
Diller, a 31-year-old married father of one living in Massapequa Park, was allegedly shot in the torso and murdered by Guy Rivera, a passenger in a car belonging to one Lindy Jones.
According to police, Rivera fired one shot and killed Diller while sitting in the passenger seat of a Kia after the two got into a tug-of-war over the suspect’s vehicle door during a traffic stop.
Lindy Jones, the driver implicated in the deadly shooting of the NYPD officer, was arraigned on felony firearms charges on Wednesday, while the suspected shooter remained hospitalized awaiting prosecution, officials said.
Jones, 31, was charged with second and third-degree unlawful possession of a firearm after police discovered a loaded and defaced 9 mm pistol during a check of the car he was driving, according to police documents. Judge Maria Gonzalez of Queens Criminal Court ordered Jones to be jailed without bail.
Guy Rivera, 34, the suspected shooter, is still hospitalized and in police custody, according to officials. Police found the pistol Rivera allegedly used to kill NYPD Officer Jonathan E. Diller shortly after the incident on Monday. While conducting a search warrant on the car on Tuesday, detectives discovered the defaced 9 mm inside a glove box, with one round of ammunition in the chamber and seven more in an attached magazine, according to charges.
Tarik Sheppard, NYPD deputy commissioner, confirmed that former President Donald Trump would attend Diller’s wake in Massapequa on Thursday afternoon. Sheppard said that the Secret Service is the principal agency in charge of security, but the NYPD will give assistance during the 2-4 p.m. viewing at Massapequa Funeral Home’s South Chapel. The funeral home has scheduled a second viewing from 7 to 9 p.m.
“President Trump is moved by the invitation to join NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller’s family and colleagues as they deal with his senseless and tragic death,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign spokesperson, said in a statement on Wednesday.
But Donald Trump is not merely attending the wake, according to media reports.
The former president reportedly called Jonathan Diller’s widow after the terrible tragedy. Shortly thereafter, she got a call from the Tunnel to Towers foundation. The charity will be paying off her mortgage.
“Okay, I’m going to give a Trump W this morning,” one X user remarked. “A mutual friend of mine lives in NY. His neighbor is the funeral director doing the wake for the NYC cop just killed the other day. He met with the widow and the department. While she was in his office, the Port Authority president said there was a call for her. It was Trump. A few minutes after that she got a call from Tunnel To Towers and they are paying off her mortgage.”
The Politics Brief reached out to Tunnel to Towers foundation in advance of publication and will publish any confirmation that Donald Trump helped to defray the cost of the act of charity.
This would not be the first time that Donald Trump has called a slain NYPD officer’s widow. In 2016, then President Elect Trump called slain NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo’s widow and personally extended his “condolences.”
“I’m very sorry I cannot be there with you today. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this difficult time,” Trump told the grieving woman, according to a source. “I want to express my condolences from me and my family.”
New York City Mayor Adams also spoke about the loss off Officer Jonathan Diller.
“Losing Jonathan, it hurts a lot,” said Mayor Eric Adams, a veteran police captain who opened his Tuesday news conference with a minute of silence in honor of Diller.
When asked about the events leading up to the shooting, Adams said, “The NYPD is still investigating the escalation.”
However, he said, speaking generally about police encounters: “Things escalate quickly. And we can sit back and look at the tape and analyze it. All that’s well. But when you’re in the front line and you are dealing with someone that you’re seeing that they’re not obeying the basic lawful order, things start to kick in.”
The mayor met with Diller’s grieving widow. Adams called the shooting a “senseless act of violence.”
“Can I say it any clearer? It is the good guys against the bad guys,” he said. “And these bad guys are violent. They carry guns. And the symbol of our public safety, which is that police uniform, they have a total disregard for.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked to comment on the shooting at Wednesday’s press conference.
“This shooting is yet another painful reminder of the toll of gun violence,” Jean-Pierre said.
Karine Jean-Pierre did not once mention Officer Jonathan Diller’s name.
The New York City police union on Wednesday told radical politicians to stay home instead of showing their faces at Officer Diller’s funeral.
“Adrienne Adams, Jumaanee Williams and their cohorts should stay home. They detest cops and have no appreciation for what they do. They should stay home and not pretend they are grieving. They have caused enough heartbreak and destruction,” SBA President Vincent Vallelong told The New York Post.
His remarks followed upon a blistering letter published by the union that represents NYPD sergeants, condemning anti-police council members for posting “hollow” and “untrue” messages of sadness for 31-year-old Diller’s death — and claiming that they, too, were not invited to the burial Saturday.
“They are as morally responsible for PO Diller’s death as the career criminal who pulled the trigger,” the searing letter states.
“The Council members who are vehemently and inexplicably against public safety are responsible for the carnage in the streets and the heartbreak brought about by PO Diller’s completely avoidable death,” the missive added.
The officer’s wake is scheduled on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Rose of Lima R.C. Church, also in Massapequa.
Officer Jonathan Diller leaves behind a wife and a one-year-old boy “who will now grow up without his father.”
