White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the death of an NYPD officer, 31-year-old Jonathan Diller, who leaves behind a wife and 1-year-old son. The accused, according to the New York Post, has been identified as a "career criminal," 34-year-old Guy Rivera. He had been arrested 21 times.
During Wednesday's briefing, Jean-Pierre couldn't even bring herself to say Diller's name, though. She also focused her response on gun control, despite how the city and state having some of the strictest gun control policies in the country, and have been looking to make them even more strict.
A reporter, who was also asking about how President Joe Biden would be in New York City, asked if there were any plans to "acknowledge that officer." Speaking to that specific part of the reporter's question, Jean-Pierre read directly from her binder as she said "our hearts go out to this officer who tragically lost his life in the line of duty," adding "we're also praying for his family during this difficult time, who now has an empty seat at their dinner table." She also offered that "President Biden is deeply grateful for the sacrifices police officers make to keep our communities safe."
But then, she went on to claim how "this shooting is yet another painful reminder of the toll of gun violence, of what it's doing to inflict on families in our communities and our nation." As if this wasn't unrelated enough, Jean-Pierre then spent her response praising the president's efforts to go after the Second Amendment.
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"That's why the president signed more than two dozen executive actions," she shared, continuing to note "that's why we're able to pass a bipartisan agreement to, uh, deal with the gun violence that we're seeing in this country" and adding "obviously more work needs to be done, we need Congress to continue to act on making sure that our communities are safe." She concluded her response by saying "again, our hearts go out to this officer and, um, his family," adding "it's a difficult time for them," though she still did not mention Diller by name.
Tellingly, Jean-Pierre hadn't been asked about gun control, though that was what the prepared statement she insisted on reading from in her binder dictated she do.
As much as Jean-Pierre would like to make it about gun violence, the bigger picture is how Rivera is a career criminal in a city where DA Alvin Bragg is soft on crime and in a state where the elected officials, including and especially Attorney General Letitia James, are too preoccupied targeting former and potentially future President Donald Trump.
A letter to the editor that the New York Post published read in part that "[t]he shooter and his accomplice have blood on their hands. So do Gov. Hochul and all the Democratic members of our state Senate and Assembly for fostering the total collapse of society and our criminal-justice system. Instead of protecting the public, these politicians would rather push their distorted ideology on the law-abiding citizens of New York."
Lindy Jones, who was the driver of the car where Rivera was approached as part of a traffic stop, had had 14 prior arrests, as the New York Post also reported.
Speaking of Trump, another report from the New York Post mentioned he is expected to attend the slain officer's Thursday wake on Long Island.
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