Jonathan Diller shooting: NYPD sergeants’ union tells anti-police Democrats to stay away from funeral

The NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association sent a damning letter calling out far-left Democratic leaders in New York City for their anti-police and soft-on-crime policies and telling them to stay away from the funeral of slain Officer Jonathan Diller.

The 31-year-old father died Monday after a violent ex-con with 21 prior arrests allegedly shot him in the stomach when police approached the car where the suspect was sitting in the passenger seat.

“I’m sure that many elected officials will attend PO Diller’s funeral, shed a few crocodile tears, and prominently seat themselves for a good photo opportunity,” SBA President Vincent Vallelong wrote in a letter to union members. “The sad reality is we don’t want them there.”

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NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller is survived by his wife and their nearly 1-year-old son. (NYPD)

Vallelong said he found it infuriating to see city politicians who have supported movements to “defund” police and let criminals out of jail posting politically motivated condolences on social media.

They are as morally responsible for PO Diller’s death as the career criminal who pulled the trigger. 

— Vincent Vallelong, SBA president

“Their presence is more than a distraction,” Vallelong continued. “It is a stain on the legacy of a true hero who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as the scores of dedicated and committed public servants who will carry on his mission despite their constant criticism, cynicism, negativity, and frivolous accusations.”

NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, was the father of a 1-year-old boy. A violent ex-con has been accused of fatally shooting him during a stop earlier this week. (Tunnel to Towers Foundation)

In an interview with the New York Post, the union leader took it a step further and called out City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams by name.

“They detest cops and have no appreciation for what they do,” he told the paper. “They should stay home and not pretend they are grieving.”

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When Williams wrote on X about Diller’s death earlier this week, many of the replies contained harsh criticism.

“I like how this post doesn’t address the need to get criminals off our streets,” one user replied.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams speaks during a rally before a City Council oversight hearing at City Hall on March 1, 2023, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Williams, a former City Council member who was elected the city’s public advocate in 2019, has previously described himself as a democratic socialist and in 2020 argued that $1 billion in NYPD budget cuts wouldn’t go far enough to “defund” the police. 

Adams in January helped override a veto from Mayor Eric Adams, no relation, for a bill that requires police officers to perform increased paperwork after encounters with the public.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams speaks during a demonstration in front of City Hall on Jan. 30, 2024. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Despite their admonitions to the contrary, the ‘leadership’ in the Council has failed city residents, workers, and visitors at every turn,” Vallelong wrote. “They are blinded by their own hatred and twisted ideology.”

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A police officer holds a lit candle as people attend a candlelight vigil for NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was shot and killed while making a routine traffic stop on March 25 in the Far Rockaway section of Queens, at Brady Park in Massapequa, New York, March 27, 2024. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Without naming names, Vallelong’s letter also accused “many prosecutors” of being also to blame for “this utter destruction of civilized society in New York.”

“They would rather see the city burn and countless lives lost rather than correct their legislative mistakes and at least give the city a chance at survival or a resurgence,” he wrote.

NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller seen smiling with colleagues in a selfie shared by the 105th Precinct in Queens.  (NYPD)

Guy Rivera, a 34-year-old man with 21 prior arrests, nine of them for felonies, allegedly shot and killed Diller during a stop in Far Rockaway on Monday evening. 

Other officers returned fire and Rivera was still in police custody at the hospital Thursday morning, according to Queens prosecutors.

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Guy Rivera, an ex-con suspected of fatally shooting NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, appears in a mugshot. (NYPD)

A friend in the same vehicle, Lindy Jones, 41, was convicted of attempted murder in 2002, served time in prison and was somehow out on the streets despite a pending felony firearms case from last year, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

Lindy Jones is pictured in police custody leaving the 101st Precinct, Wednesday, March 27, 2024, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams for NY Daily News via Getty Images)

He racked up another weapons charge when police allegedly found a handgun with the serial number filed off in his glove box.

A New York City Police Department ambulance carrying the remains of Officer Jonathan Diller drives out from under Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, late Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)

“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,” Vallelong wrote. “Those in the Council who have declared war on the police should be the ones put under a microscope and investigated by an outside agency for every legislative mistake and misstep they make.”

It comes weeks after the state’s Democrat Attorney General Letitia James faced jeers and boos when she appeared at a promotion ceremony for members of the FDNY.

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Firefighters salute as the ambulance transporting the body of Officer Jonathan Diller exits Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in the Queens borough of New York, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)

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The interruption came shortly after James successfully sued former President Trump in an effort to crack down on his New York businesses. Firefighters chanted, “Trump! Trump! Trump!”

Diller will be laid to rest Saturday in Massapequa, New York. His wake services begin this afternoon.