The grieving widow of a New York City police officer who was gunned down during a routine traffic stop publicly asked during his funeral Saturday how many cops would have to die before elected officials "start protecting them."
Stephanie Diller delivered an emotional eulogy for her husband, 31-year-old Jonathan Diller, and invoked the words spoken by another NYPD widow at the funeral of her husband, Jason Rivera, in January 2022.
"Dominique Rivera stood in front of all the elected officials present that day, pleading for change," she told a packed Long Island church. "That change never came and now my son will grow up without his father. I will grow old without my husband and his parents have to say goodbye to their child."
Diller added: "How many more police officers and how many more families need to make the ultimate sacrifice before we start protecting them? I don't wish this kind of pain on anyone. Jonathan lived his life doing good for people and it's now time for people to do good for all the officers he represents."
Diller arrived at the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church carrying the couple's 1-year-old son, Ryan, and was surrounded by thousands of cops as uniformed pallbearers carried her husband's casket inside, covered by an NYPD flag while a bagpiper played "Amazing Grace."
Mayor Eric Adams, a former city police captain, stood nearby as widow Stephanie Diller and son Ryan were greeted and hugged by a priest.
As the funeral Mass got underway, the Rev. Michael Duffy told the packed pews, "The murder of a policeman shakes us to our very core."
"The city is mourning a cop," the priest added. "But Stephanie and Ryan are mourning their everything."
During the first eulogy, Adams said that seeing photos of Diller and his family was heartbreaking and recalled the slain officer's dying words.
"I hear over and over, 'I've been shot. I've been shot. I've been shot,'" he said. "And even with the acknowledgement that he was shot, he fought and took the gun out of the hand of the person who would take his life."
Adams added: "He ran towards danger, taking risks, making arrests and undoubtedly saving lives."
Police Commissioner Edward Caban also delivered a eulogy in which announced the posthumous promotion of Jonathan Diller to first-grade detective, which was greeted with a long round of applause.
Caban also said the late cop's new shield number was 110, for his son's birthday, and closed his remarks by saying, "God bless the New York City Police Department. We are the line and we stand with you forever."
Earlier, a motorcade comprising scores of officers on police motorcycles with flashing lights arrived and passed by the crowd outside around 10:45 a.m., according to video livestreamed by WABC-TV.
The lawn of the church was ringed with poles flying American flags and a floral arrangement in the shape of a blue police badge with a black band and the words "Survivors of the Shield" was carried inside, according to video posted online by the New York Post.
A box truck showing electronic images of Diller on its side was also recorded driving past the church.
Diller, who was married with a 1-year-old son, was shot beneath his bulletproof vest on Monday when he and his partner asked a motorist to move from a bus stop in Queens.
Ex-con Guy Rivera, 34, allegedly opened fire after he and Lindy Jones, 41, refused to comply and were ordered out of the vehicle.
Diller's death has taken on political overtones, with the head of one city police union calling members of the overwhelmingly Democratic City Council "morally responsible" for his slaying and urging them to stay away from Saturday's service.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul was apparently turned away from Diller's wake on Friday by an unidentified man who approached her outside the Massapequa Funeral Home, according to a video clip posted online by Fox News.
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee who's challenging President Joe Biden in November, attended the wake on Thursday and said, "We have to get back to law and order" while speaking to reporters outside afterward, according to the Associated Press.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Biden spoke with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, but that she didn't have any "private communications to share" after being asked if he spoke with Diller's family.
