Gov. Hochul confronted at NYPD officer's services as Letitia James reportedly sought invite
Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., tells 'The Ingraham Angle' he wasn't surprised Democratic officials weren't welcome at funeral home.
After New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul was rebuffed at memorial services for slain NYPD Ofc. Jonathan Diller in Massapequa Park, former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. and others called out her appearance as disrespectful and self-serving.
Images captured outside the funeral home showed Hochul being confronted by mourners, after which time she left the venue.
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, who lives in Massapequa, also reported that Hochul was denied a request to speak at a Saturday funeral for Diller, and that sources told him New York State Attorney General Letitia James had paid her respects to the fallen officer.
"How completely out of touch and disrespectful – it's about them when you make that kind of request. It really should be about the family," said Zeldin, who represented eastern Long Island in Congress and, by New York standards, narrowly lost to Hochul in the 2022 governor's race.
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"They can have speak whoever they want to have speak. And if you aren't invited to provide remarks, then you don't try to push your way into it," he said.
Kilmeade reported further details about Hochul and other New York officials being given a particularly icy reception at the wake:
"I'm told the family members let [Hochul] have it when she got there saying, quote, ‘his blood is on your hands’ -- When Hochul got outside, that's when another family member confronted her, telling … the governor laws need to change because that's the reason why Officer Diller is dead tonight," Kilmeade said.
The "Fox & Friends" host reported both New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg were also confronted by mourners, but that neither man engaged in any back-and-forth.
"I have now learned tonight from a source that Kathy Hochul, the governor, asked to speak at tomorrow's funeral at St. Rose [of Lima Roman Catholic Church]. So did, hold on to something tight: A.G. Letitia James," Kilmeade reported. "Both were rejected by the family."
James' office denied that she asked to speak at the funeral and told Fox News she attended only to pay her respects.
Zeldin added it is not the first time New York liberals' soft-on-crime policies have caused the public to react in such a way.
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He pointed to the 2022 home-opener for the NHL's New York Rangers, where Hochul was showered with boos by fans at Madison Square Garden. Hochul was the ceremonial puck-dropper in concert with "Women's Empowerment Night," according to the New York Post – as she is the state's first female governor.
"She was booed out of [MSG by] thousands of people," Zeldin recounted. "The same thing would happen if she went to Yankee Stadium or Citi Field or an Islanders game or Knicks game."
Zeldin said New Yorkers are fed up with the lack of proper priorities, pointing to lax criminal justice policies compared to the fanfare over the MTA's congestion pricing, which costs the typcial motorist an extra $15 to enter Manhattan directly from New Jersey, Brooklyn or Queens, or traverse the island borough below 60 Street; at Central Park.
"New Yorkers are hitting their breaking point and about to flee. And the people who are in charge, these elected officials, aren't actually making life in New York any better," he said.
"So now you confront that problem with the raw emotion of a family who just lost their loved one, and the last thing in the world that they want are any of these Democratic politicians who try to grandstand selflessly for their own good."
Kilmeade went on to contrast the ability for the cop's murder suspect, Guy Rivera, to have remained on the street despite a lengthy rap sheet, while New York authorities pursue prosecutions against former President Trump and Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran who choked a disturbed man on the MTA subway who had been menacing passengers.
Earlier this month, Hochul blamed judges for letting some more dangerous suspects out without bail, saying "it is becoming clear to me that we need judges trained in the changes that we made," according to CBS News.
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