President Trump embraced the tearful mother of slain 12-year-old Jacob Freytes during a pro-police rally on Long Island Friday.
The president paused his speech at the Nassau County Police Academy in Garden City to acknowledge Migdalia Martinez, whose son was fatally struck by a stray bullet outside a Bronx bodega in July. Trump, 78, left the podium to comfort Martinez before returning to address the crowd of law enforcement officers and supporters gathered at the training facility.
“Horrible, horrible things. We’re going after these sick people,” Trump promised the audience after the emotional moment.
The appearance came as Trump sought to highlight newly released FBI crime statistics showing a nationwide drop in violent crime, while also bolstering Republican candidates in a critical election year. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel joined the president at the event, which drew both supporters and protesters to the suburban New York county.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Trump-endorsed Republican challenging Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, welcomed the presidential visit. Blakeman said he was grateful Trump was visiting “to tour our outstanding, state-of-the-art law enforcement facilities” and pay tribute to police workers.
The encounter with Martinez placed a human face on Trump’s law-and-order messaging. The president has made crime and immigration enforcement central themes of his political platform, and Friday’s event marked his second trip to New York this year to support Blakeman and other GOP candidates.
In the viral moment that preceded Friday’s rally, 12-year-old Jacob Freytes was killed July 25 while riding his bicycle to a neighborhood bodega in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx. Police said the boy was an innocent bystander hit by gunfire that erupted during a street fight outside the store. The alleged gunman, William Ferrer, 45, opened fire and struck Freytes in the chest; the boy ran into the bodega seeking help before collapsing. Ferrer was arrested Sunday morning outside his Bronx home, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced. Freytes’ father is a retired NYPD sergeant, and the boy had dreamed of becoming a police officer like him.
Martinez has been vocal about her loss in the weeks since her son’s death. She appeared on Fox & Friends alongside her daughter Angelica Coriano to mourn the boy and blame soft-on-crime policies for enabling a career criminal to remain on the streets. She has called for stricter laws requiring life in prison for anyone who recklessly kills a child with a gun.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended Freytes’ funeral service and joined the family at a Bronx vigil condemning gun violence. The shooting shocked the city and reignited debates over public safety in New York.
Trump’s Long Island appearance also carried political weight beyond the immediate crime message. He narrowly won Nassau County in 2024, flipping it Republican for the first time in more than two decades. The county is now home to two Democratic House seats that Republicans view as winnable in the upcoming midterm elections.
Hochul’s campaign pushed back against the presidential visit. Campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki said the governor “has invested billions in public safety to protect New Yorkers” and accused Blakeman of bringing Trump to tour a county where he “let violent crime spike to decade highs.”
Trump’s next scheduled public appearance will be a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.