Slain Officer Jonathan Diller’s family told Kathy Hochul she had ‘his blood on her hands’: source
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An uncle of slain NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller was the man who lashed out at Gov. Hochul when she stopped by the wake Friday afternoon —shouting that “his blood is on your hands,” a source told The Post Saturday, as the governor insisted she had not been asked to leave the gathering.
The family member “was going crazy on her,” the source said.
“He said, ‘We don’t want you here. You’re not wanted here. You have blood on your hands. If you want to do something, change the bail laws,’” the source continued.
But Hochul, speaking at an Easter event in Albany, said she had no regrets about attending.
“I would do it again, and that’s my job,” she said, according to Politico. “If they need to talk to me, and they all needed to talk to me, my job is to listen.”
Diller, 31, was shot dead in Queens on Monday evening.
Both suspects in the incident have long rap sheets and previously did time in prison.
The tragic killing spurred renewed calls for Albany to clamp down on bail reform, which many in law enforcement blame for recidivist crimes.
Hochul and Attorney General Letitita James were also both denied their requests to speak at the Saturday morning service, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade reported.
“How completely out of touch and disrespectful – it’s about them when you make that kind of request. It really should be about the family,” former Rep. Lee Zeldin told Fox of the governor’s supposed request.
Hochul tried to mend fences Saturday by lowering flags on state buildings to half-staff on the day of Diller’s funeral.
What to know about the fatal shooting of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller:
- Diller, 31, was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in Far Rockaway, Queens, on March 25, 2024.
- Suspect Guy Rivera allegedly opened fire on Diller on Monday evening after the cop approached the vehicle Rivera was in for parking in front of a bus stop.
- Diller was shot once in the stomach below his bulletproof vest. The married father of a 1-year-old boy was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
- Rivera was wounded when Diller’s partner returned fire. The suspect has 21 prior arrests and was found to have a shiv stored in his rectum during the shooting — in apparent anticipation of being sent to jail again.
- Lindy Jones, the ex-con behind the wheel of the car during the shooting, was also arrested after a second gun was found in his car.
- Mayor Eric Adams has renewed his calls for Albany to address criminal recidivism following the shooting involving two suspects with lengthy criminal records.
Follow The Post’s complete coverage of fallen NYPD Officer Diller’s wake
In comments to Al Sharpton on MSNBC Saturday, Hochul conceded, “there’s a lot of anger.
“I went to the wake to meet the family and speak to everyone. . . . Understandably there’s anger about how these individuals could commit crimes over and over and are back out on the street again. So that is one of the reasons why we worked hard with the [state] Legislature last year to change the bail laws . . . but I totally understand the outrage of the family.”
Zeldin said the dispute revealed how fed up New Yorkers have become with “soft-on-crime” policies that have taken hold on Hochul’s watch.
“New Yorkers are hitting their breaking point and about to flee,” he scoffed.