NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was killed in the line of duty on March 25, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)
Blangiforti, who retired in 2008 as a detective squad commander, torched the governor’s response.
"That's a canned statement. Do you think she actually wrote it?" he said. "Somebody in her staff wrote what you're supposed to write. I bet if you compared them side by side every time a tragedy happened, they all be identical. Oh, my thoughts and prayers are with the family. He's a hero and so forth and so on. Yet, you support the laws that allowed this to happen."
"We don't want your love and prayers and thoughts. We don't want it," he continued. "What we want is for you to write something that 'these policies that I've supported in the past are wrong, and I see that now, Isee that they're wrong and I need to change. I need to change. I need to do a paradigm shift because obviously something's not working.' OK, so Gov. Hochul, you're fake. You're fake. And you're part of the problem."
Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul's office for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters on Tuesday that crime in New York City centers on three issues – recidivism, severe mental illness and random acts of violence – calling on Albany lawmakers to enact legislation to take action in the wake of Diller’s death, as well as another fatal subway shoving this week.
"Jonathan is a symbol. Those of you who have children, imagine just the pain of that, of going through something that’s unnatural. Parents should never have to bury their children. There’s nothing natural about that. And watching his wife as she’s just holding on, hoping not to hear those words come back. Just a senseless act of violence," Adams said. "We have a real recidivist problem. These two individuals, one of the men had been arrested on a gun charge in April 2023 – the driver has more than 20 priors, the other has an equal amount of priors. Recidivism is a real issue."
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said recidivism is driving violent crime. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Blangiforti said that over the past several years he’s witnessed "a disdain" toward police officers and worsening perception, arguing some media outlets "cherry pick all the bad things, about law enforcement officers and completely overlook the 99% of good police officers that risked their lives every day, that all they want to do is help people in their jurisdiction."
"It emboldens criminals like this, violent criminals to just act with reckless disregard for a police officer's life. But 21 arrests, armed robbery, gun charges. And this guy is walking around on the street. They have blood on their hands. Everybody who votes for these bail reform laws, everybody who's part of revolving door justice. Judges are even handcuffed by these laws," Blangiforti said. "They’re letting these armed, dangerous people back out on the street. What's happened to our society?"
"It’s not just the police officers," Blangiforti said, acknowledging that Diller’s case is much more elevated because he was a member of law enforcement, but that everyday New Yorkers are subjected to violent crime.
"You have innocent victims all over the city. And that's because of these reckless, lack of common sense by these people in positions of authority that have turned on the citizens. They're more concerned about the rights of criminals and the rights of these people that commit crimes than they are for the regular citizens who are victims every single day."
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Having been to many officers' funerals during his 20-year-career, Blangiforti said he did not know Diller personally but plans to attend his funeral.
"Whether you're active or retired law enforcement, we're all brothers and sisters. You never stop being a cop just because you retire. You're never less affected by a police officer's death, whether you're active or retired."
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
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