Trump attends memo­r­i­al ser­vice for fall­en Flori­da offi­cers

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Trump attends memorial service for fallen Florida officers

Pres­i­dent-elect Don­ald Trump was in Palm Beach, Flori­da, on Tues­day to memo­ri­al­ize three offi­cers who died in a traf­fic inci­dent.

Trump has often paid his respects to fall­en law enforce­ment as his stance on law and order was a cen­tral ten­ant of his win­ning cam­paign. The pres­i­dent-elect attend­ed the funer­al of New York Police Depart­ment offi­cer Jonathan Diller ear­li­er this spring on the same night that Pres­i­dent Joe Biden held a fundrais­er in the same city.

Gov. Ron DeSan­tis (R‑FL) also attend­ed the Tues­day funer­al of Cpl. Luis Paez, Deputy Ralph “Butch” Waller, and Deputy Igna­cio “Dan” Diaz, but nei­ther politi­cian spoke. Trump and DeSan­tis sat togeth­er onstage with the three cas­kets draped in the Amer­i­can flag. This ser­vice was large­ly attend­ed at the iTHINK Finan­cial Amphithe­atre. Addi­tion­al­ly, Florid­i­ans lined the street from Palms West Funer­al Home to the memo­r­i­al ser­vice.

A Palm Beach Coun­ty Sher­iff deputy is seen dur­ing the funer­al pro­ces­sion for three fall­en PBSO motor unit deputies takes place in West Palm Beach, Flori­da, on Dec. 3, 2024. (Car­line Jean/South Flori­da Sun-Sen­tinel via AP)

Rep. Bri­an Mast (R‑FL) spoke as a rep­re­sen­ta­tive who knew the three men. He said they all met at a Veteran’s Day parade as they all rode motor­cy­cles in the pro­ces­sion.

“I can­not pre­tend that I knew them well, but they were always present, always on watch because it was their call­ing to pro­tect every per­son in this com­mu­ni­ty from dan­ger — even those of us that they bare­ly knew,” Mast said at the ser­vice. “Noth­ing could be more self­less.”

Mean­while, in the neigh­bor­ing coun­ty of Mia­mi-Dade, Com­mis­sion­er Kevin Mari­no Cabr­era gave Palm Avenue a new des­ig­na­tion: “Don­ald J. Trump Avenue.” Cabr­era said the name change was “for­ev­er immor­tal­iz­ing Pres­i­dent Trump’s lega­cy.”

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“Future gen­er­a­tions who tra­verse this street will be remind­ed of his fight for the prin­ci­ples of free­dom, pros­per­i­ty, and oppor­tu­ni­ty,” Cabr­era said.

These Palm Beach Coun­ty offi­cers were hit by a vehi­cle attempt­ing to pass the car ahead of it on Nov. 21 as they were help­ing a fel­low deputy with his bro­ken motor­cy­cle. Paez was 58, Waller was 54, and Diaz was 51, and they served a com­bined 74 years with the sheriff’s office. Diaz is sur­vived by his daugh­ter Alexan­dria Diaz. Waller is sur­vived by his wife Denise Salafia Waller. Paez is sur­vived by his son Cameron Paez.