New York Governor Kathy Hochul is refuting claims that she was asked to leave the wake of deceased NYPD officer after a tense confrontation with a mourner.
Hochul stated she had received clearance from the family to attend Officer Jonathan Diller’s wake on Friday and was never told to depart.
“We always ask: ‘Would the families like us there?’ In this case, we asked. We were told the family is welcoming,” Hochul explained at an Easter event on Saturday. “We always check, and they said to come, and I went. And no one told me to leave.”
Video obtained by the New York Post captured the Democratic governor in a heated exchange with a man identified as Diller’s uncle as she was leaving the Long Island funeral home.
While she did not disclose details of the confrontation, she defended her decision to pay respects to the fallen 31-year-old officer who was shot at close range in Queens last Monday around 6pm.
“People will do what they’re going to do for their own reasons, and I will remain convinced that it was the right thing to do,” Hochul stated. “I would do it again, and that’s my job. My job is to be there when people need me. If they need to talk to me, and they all needed to talk to me, my job is to listen.”
Diller’s murder has intensified scrutiny on Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ efforts to combat crime, especially after it was revealed the alleged shooter had an extensive criminal history. The governor has also faced criticism from Republicans over the state’s controversial bail reform laws.
Kathy Hochul claimed she is actively “trying to make the changes to go back to where it was” regarding the bail laws. However, she insisted her attendance at Diller’s wake was important to listen to the concerns of mourners and law enforcement.
“I did a lot of listening,” Hochul said. “That’s what happened in the wake room, walking out was a different group of people, and things happen. But I had to do that. It was important for me to be there for them and to listen to what they wanted to say to the governor of New York.”
The confrontation at the wake followed former President Donald Trump’s own visit a day earlier, where he renewed calls for tougher crime legislation in New York.
