Monday, March 25, probably started out like any other day for 31-year-old NYPD officer Jonathan Diller.
He probably kissed his wife and son as he left for work, expecting to see them later that evening.
But Jonathan Diller would never come back home again.
Around 5:50 p.m., Diller made a routine traffic stop near 19-19 Mott Ave. in Far Rockaway, according to the NYPD, the New York Post reported.
The suspect in the car, Guy Rivera, “was asked to leave the car, he was given a lawful order numerous times to step out of the car, he refused,” according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
“And when the officer took him out of the car, instead of stepping out of the car, he shot our officer,” Kenny said.
Another sergeant, Sasha Rosen, might also have been taken that day by Rivera, but the gun jammed when Rivera tried to shoot him, according to The New York Times.
Police officers face dangerous situations every day, and like Diller, they do not have the luxury of hindsight. Failure to act instantly could result in their death.
But an eerily similar incident in Chicago just three days before Diller’s murder in New York has protesters out in the street attempting to turn a man who was shot by officers at a traffic stop into another George Floyd, even though body cam footage appears to show he shot first.
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The family of Dexter Reed, a 26-year-old man killed by Chicago police in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on March 21, is demanding criminal charges against the officers involved and calling for the disbanding of tactical units. Reed was shot nearly 100 times by officers after a traffic stop, according to WBBM-TV.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability released body camera footage on Tuesday showing plainclothes tactical officers surrounding Reed’s vehicle with guns drawn, initially claiming they stopped him for not wearing a seatbelt.
According to WBBM-TV, body cam footage shows officers asking Reed, “What are you doing?” and repeatedly asking him to “unlock the doors” and “don’t roll up the window.”
You can hear a female officer yelling at Reed to “open the door now,” and then the window rolls down, after which shots ring out.
An officer standing on the passenger side of the vehicle was wounded and fell to the ground, according to COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten.
The female officer can be heard screaming “shots fired, shots fired” and “10-1,” which means “officer needs help,” according to Chicago Police Department code, while the shots continue to ring out.
Reed eventually exited the vehicle and was shot multiple times as he moved toward the rear, with an officer firing several more rounds after he fell to the ground.
The female officer can then be heard saying, “We need an ambulance — officers hit, we need an ambulance officers hit,” while other officers move in to check on Reed.
Officers can be heard telling Reed, “Don’t f**ing move” as they approached him, and “he’s still breathing.”
An officer moves in toward Reed after asking the female officer to back him up.
The female officer can be heard saying, “Hey dude, let go of the gun, let go of the gun,” as the officers cuffed the suspect.
Once Reed was secured, the video shows the genuine fear that these young officers had felt during the situation.
One officer can be seen screaming expletives as others calm him down, telling him to “chill.”
The officers then rushed to check on their fallen partner, who assured them that he was all right as he had only been hit on the hand.
Another young officer was also checked for injuries.
Reed’s family and attorneys say they have questions about the aggressive tactics over a minor traffic violation and accused police of escalating the situation instead of de-escalating.
The family and activists held a heated protest outside the Chicago Police Department’s Harrison District headquarters, chanting, “No justice, no peace and Defund the police!” according to WBBM-TV.
When a police supporter tried to point out that Reed shot a police officer, a woman warned him, “Don’t be over here trying to instigate and incite nothing.” WBBM reported.
Reed’s sister, Porscha Banks, said, “Unloading your clip three times — shooting over 35 times — is murder.”
Libs of Tiktok tweeted, “The media is trying to push a new “George Floyd” movement after a police sh00ting in Chicago. The reality shows the individual fired nonstop at the police. Do not fall for their propaganda!”
The media is trying to push a new “George Floyd” movement after a police sh00ting in Chicago.
The reality shows the individual fired nonstop at the police.
Do not fall for their propaganda! pic.twitter.com/QKFeBbfwTo
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 10, 2024
The family has depicted Reed as a promising young man who loved basketball and healthy living. They said he aspired to become a sports broadcaster after starring on the Westinghouse College Prep basketball team that won a regional championship in 2016. Reed went on to play at Morton College in Cicero.
However, public records show Reed had two arrests in 2022. In June, he was charged with misdemeanor theft for allegedly stealing a $950 designer shirt from a Saks Fifth Avenue store on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.
Then, in July, Reed faced weapons charges after police and prosecutors said he brought a loaded gun to the Windy City Smokeout festival without a valid FOID card or concealed carry license, WBBM reported.
Of course, the media was happy to stir the pot.
The Washington Post headline on the story read, “Videos show Chicago police fired nearly 100 shots over 41 seconds during fatal traffic stop,” with a wholesome-looking photograph of Reed at his graduation.
The legacy media including @washingtonpost appears desperate to manufacture a narrative to cause civil unrest reminiscent of 2020. What they intentionally don’t mention in the headline: Dexter Reed fired the first shots at police officers who pulled him over. pic.twitter.com/U0xD5ZZsJM
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) April 10, 2024
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said, “As mayor, and as a father raising a family, including two Black boys on the West Side of Chicago, I am personally devastated to see yet another young Black man lose his life during an interaction with the police,” adding, “Our heart breaks for the family of Dexter Reed. They are grieving the loss of a son, a brother, and a nephew.”
Johnson also mentioned another black man — the officer who was shot — saying, “Thankfully, he is recovering, but if that bullet had hit him a few inches in a different direction, I would be here today talking about the loss of another black man.”
And therein lies the difference.
How many shots are too many to save a life?
As the unnamed black officer who was shot lay on the grass, his colleagues did not know the extent of his injuries or who was going to be next.
Were they supposed to confer about how many shots each of them would take in the heat of a moment like that?
What would Jonathan Diller’s family give if they could go back in time and have the chance for him to empty his clip first?
Investigations are warranted, and accountability is always a good thing.
But the rush to condemn officers who can be seen on camera clearly only trying to protect their lives and the lives of their colleagues through the lens of hindsight demoralizes a group of people who risk their lives every day attempting to keep up with Chicago’s escalating crime problem.
