Widow of fallen NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller blasts elected leaders for rampant crime, not protecting officers in powerful eulogy

The widow of fallen NYPD officer Jonathan Diller had harsh words for elected officials when giving the eulogy at her husband's funeral. Stephanie Diller, who survives her husband along with their one-year-old son, said that her husband died as a he lived, a hero.

“How many more police officers and how many more families have to make the ultimate sacrifice before we start protecting them?” Diller said during the funeral, which took place on Holy Saturday.



Diller's killer had been arrested and released 21 times before taking the life of an NYPD officer during a traffic stop in Far Rockaway, Queens on Monday. 

"My husband died a hero, but he always lived as one," she said. She said that "He was always putting people above himself, dropping everything to help someone in need, and speaking up for what was right."

The funeral was presided over by the same priest who married the couple in 2019. Diller was 31, his wife is 29-year-old. During the service, Diller was promoted posthumously to Detective First Grade, per the New York Post.

“What he loved most was being Ryan’s dad,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said 

“I am so proud that thousands of people across the country are calling Jonathan a hero,” Diller said of her husband.

“But the truth is he’s always been a hero to Ryan and me. The rest of the world is just catching up.”

President Donald Trump attended the wake for Diller on Thursday while President Joe Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton attended a swanky, celeb-studded campaign fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall. 

Former mayor Rudy Giuliani, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, and former NYPD Commissioners Keechant Sewell, Dermot Shea, and Bernard Kerik all attended. Trump sent a large spray of red, white and blue flowers to honor Diller. New York Governor Kathy Hochul attempted to attend the funeral but was asked to leave.