The Brutal Murder of New York City Cop Jonathan Diller Andrew McCarthy
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-brutal-murder-of-new-york-city-cop-jonathan-diller/
NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was savagely murdered on Monday by a career criminal who was out on the street, with his career-criminal cohort, despite their combined 35 arrests.
Officer Diller was 31. He leaves behind his wife Stephanie and their one-year-old son.
A little before 6 p.m., Diller and his partner approached a Kia Soul that was illegally parked in front of a T-Mobile store near a bus stop in Far Rockaway. The car appears to have been parked there for about ten minutes, according to the New York Post’s sources, one of whom has seen police video.
Lindy Jones (a.k.a. “Killa”), 41, was behind the wheel. Guy Rivera was sitting in the passenger seat. It’s not certain what they were up to, but we can infer it wasn’t good. Rivera, who shot and killed Diller, also had a shiv hidden in his butt. And there turned out to be a second gun in the car. Police suspect the two sociopaths were planning a robbery.
Diller approached the passenger side of the car; his partner the driver side. Diller instructed the car’s occupants to roll down the windows. They refused. Rivera then ignored Diller’s direction that he remove his hands from the pocket of his sweatshirt. Finally, Jones unlocked the automatic door locks, but when Diller tried to open the passenger door, Rivera pulled back from the inside handle.
Diller again told Rivera to remove his hand from his sweatshirt pocket. It was then that Rivera fired his gun and shot the officer — one shot that pierced Diller’s abdomen under the bulletproof vest he was wearing.
Diller’s partner returned fire, wounding Rivera. He has been treated and will recover.
Diller yelled, “I’m hit.” He was responsive as other police arrived on the scene, but he soon lost consciousness, and it was clear that he was badly wounded. Waiting for an ambulance would have taken too long, so they piled him in a police car and raced to Jamaica Hospital. There, the officer was pronounced dead.
Because of their lengthy records of arrests, convictions, and terms of incarceration, it was illegal for both Rivera and Jones to possess guns. That, no doubt, explains their resistance and aggression. At the time he murdered Officer Diller, Rivera was on parole after having served five years in state prison on drug convictions.
Earlier today, Rivera was charged with murder of a police officer, attempted murder, and illegal gun possession. Jones, who is also in custody, thus far has been charged with illegal gun possession.
A very high percentage of crime is committed by a relatively small number of recidivist criminals. These offenders belong in prison. When they are out, they commit crimes — vastly more than those that result in arrests or charges. Rivera had 21 priors, and Jones 14. We must assume that that’s just a fraction of their crimes.
Yet progressive Democrats have pushed for laws to defund the police, to redefine how policing is done, to make it more difficult to arrest and detain violent and habitual criminals, to increase the paperwork police must complete merely for stopping someone on the street who is acting suspiciously, and to grant convicted criminals early release. Progressive legislators at the city and state levels have rebuffed calls by Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat and a former cop, to restore harsher laws for recidivist offenders.
The disastrous criminal-justice “reform” laws, with easily foreseeable consequences, enacted by New York’s progressive Democrats are exacerbated by progressive prosecutors, such as Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg. They promote the absurd fiction of systemic racism in the justice system — a system that is dominated by graduates of America’s progressive law schools. The “enforcement” practices of progressive DA’s offices in blue cities — unless you are Donald Trump — call for alternatives to prosecution and the downgrading of serious crimes to trivial ones in plea negotiations.
Like seemingly everything else, the killing of Officer Diller is bound up in 2024 electoral politics. Former president Trump has called the Diller family, offered condolences and help. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is also attending the wake this afternoon in Massapequa.
Though President Biden, too, will be in New York City today, for a campaign fundraiser along with former presidents Obama and Clinton, it is not expected that any of them will attend the wake or funeral services. Asked about Biden’s not making the short trip to Massapequa while he’s in town for the political event, the White House replied that the family had “not invited” the president to attend, according to a Fox News report I heard this morning. The White House says the president reached out to Mayor Adams, but it’s unclear whether he called Stephanie Diller.
Needless to say, supporters of law enforcement do not wait to be invited to these heartbreaking events. They know you’re supposed to show up.
Police unions have admonished progressive city politicians, who’ve promoted anti-police and pro-criminal legislation, that they should not attend. Mayor Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul, who are seen as cop-supporters (if not particularly effective ones), will be in attendance at services for Officer Diller.
The CEOs of Tunnels to Towers and Barstool Sports, Frank Siller and Dave Portnoy, respectively, have announced that they are providing financial help to the Diller family, including paying off their mortgage.
Siller told Fox News that deaths of police officers have surged this year.
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