Former president Donald Trump is expected to attend the wake An employee of the New York Police Department killed Jonathan Diller NYPD spokesman Tarik Shepard told NBC News Thursday afternoon.
A wake for Diller is scheduled for Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. in Massapequa, Long Island. Diller was fatally shot Monday after pulling up to an illegally parked car at a bus stop with his partner in Far Rockaway, Queens. Police Commissioner Edward Caban said the suspect in the car shot Diller under his bulletproof vest. Associated Press.
Reached for comment, Carolyn Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, said Trump was extending an invitation to Diller’s family and colleagues to “join those dealing with his senseless and tragic death.”
Trump’s expected involvement in Diller’s pursuit comes as he continues to make excuses allegations of crime rates in New York. The former president has often made the allegations while attacking prosecutors who have filed charges against him, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. James brought civil fraud case against him and Bragg, accusing him of falsifying case records shut up money business.
The former president has also repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims that undocumented immigrants are beating police officers and driving New York’s crime rate to record highs.
“You know, what’s happening with crime in New York is through the roof, and it’s called ‘migrants,'” said the former president. Rally in Michigan last month. “They beat the police officers. You saw that they come in, stab people, hurt people, shoot them. It’s a whole new shape and they now have squads that make our squads look like small potatoes.”
Associated Press contributed.