The former president has criticized President Joe Biden for crime surges in cities such as New York, making it a central facet of his 2024 campaign.
A wake for the first New York Police Department (NYPD) officer slain in the past two years had one particularly high-profile attendee on March 28: former President Donald Trump, who is looking to make crime reduction central to his campaign as he takes on President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election.
NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, was fatally shot on March 25 after he and a fellow police officer approached an illegally parked SUV at a bus stop. A man inside shot Mr. Diller below his bulletproof vest, and the officer’s partner returned fire, injuring the suspected shooter.
Paramedics took Mr. Diller to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries, authorities said. The officer had been with the NYPD for three years and was married with a 1-year-old son, according to Police Commissioner Edward Caban.
“We struggle to find the words to express the tragedy of losing one of our own,” Mr. Caban wrote in a post on social media.
President Trump arrived at about 2 p.m. at Mr. Diller’s wake at a funeral home in Massapequa Park, New York, and was seen shaking hands and joining grieving relatives and the hundreds of uniformed police officers who attended the service.
“What happened is such a sad event,” he said upon his arrival. “It’s happening all too often and we’re just not going to let it happen.
“The Diller Family will never be the same,” the former president added.
“We have to do a lot of things differently because this is not working. This is happening too often. This is such a sad occasion.
“The only thing we can say is maybe something’s going to be learned. We’ve gotta toughen it up and strengthen it up. Things like this shouldn’t take place and take place so often,” he said.
President Biden was scheduled to attend a fundraiser hours later at Radio City Music Hall with Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert. The event is slated to host more than 5,000 attendees.
Some Republicans are already comparing the two presidents’ chosen events on March 28, as President Trump criticizes President Biden and Democrats’ crime policies in major cities such as New York.
By Jacob Burg
