Donald Trump calls for the death penalty for criminals who kill police

On March 25, police officer Jonathan Diller was shot and killed while on the job in Queens, New York.

Diller and his partner had stopped a car for a routine check when the passenger in the vehicle took out a gun and shot Diller in the stomach under his bulletproof vest, writes the Associated Press.

Diller fired back, and was taken to hospital where he later died of his injuries. He left behind a wife, family and a one-year-old son, according to the New York Post.

The man who fired the shot has been described as a “career criminal” and has been arrested several times and has a long record, writes the American newspaper.

The murder of Diller has ignited the debate in the US about crime and safety in America’s big cities, writes the BBC.

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– Immediate death penalty

At a campaign rally Tuesday night in Wisconsin, former President Donald Trump said he would demand the death penalty for those who kill police officers.

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He says that if he becomes president, he will ask Congress to draft legislation that ensures that those who kill police officers will receive the death penalty.

– I will ask Congress to send me a bill that ensures that anyone who kills a police officer immediately receives the death penalty. We’re going to do it, and you’re going to see the whole situation come to a halt,” Trump said.

According to the New York Post, Trump has supported the death penalty for those who kill police since 2015. In the United States, the death penalty is legal in 27 states and is usually carried out by injection.

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Methods such as gas, electric shock or execution by shooting are also options in various states, according to the organization “Death Penalty Info”.

Biden shone with his absence

Donald Trump also attended Diller’s memorial service last week.

– It is difficult to explain how beautiful it was. It was sad, terrible in many ways, but the family there were so many police officers in the family, Trump said.

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– What happened is a sad, sad event, a terrible event that happens far too often, and we will not let it happen.

Stephanie Diller, the widow of police officer Jonathan Diller, carries her son Ryan during her husband’s funeral in New York, US, on March 30, 2024. Photo: Eduardo Munoz / Reuters / NTB

Trump went on to call the man who fired the shot a “thug.”

– They don’t learn because they don’t have respect. They don’t get respect. The police are the best people we have. There is nothing and no one like them, Trump said, according to NBC News.

On the same day that Trump attended Diller’s memorial service, US President Joe Biden was at a fundraising event for the Democrats along with former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, writes Fox News.

In an interview, Trump came out harshly against Biden’s absence from the memorial service.

“They missed a very sad moment for our country, but it’s a moment they have to be a part of, whether they like it or not,” Trump said.

– They cannot miss this moment. I’ve never seen so many police officers. I’ve never seen so many firefighters, so many firefighters. They look at it in a very similar way, and I understand that. But they have to get involved a little, because this country is going to hell.