Kelly Girtz, the mayor of Athens, Georgia, found out rather quickly on Wednesday how angry local citizens are at his failed leadership and his take on sanctuary cities in light of the brutal murder of nursing student Laken Riley. During a press conference, Mayor Girtz did the worst thing he possibly could during this situation, which is to give a full defense of his city’s sanctuary city policies. The individual who killed Riley was here illegally.
This really did not go over well.
Here’s more from the Daily Caller:
An illegal immigrant from Venezuela named Jose Antonio Ibarra allegedly brutally murdered Riley, a 22-year-old University of Georgia student after she went out for a run on campus. An audience member at the press conference angrily shouted at Girtz, who is a Democrat, as he slammed Trump for his remarks against illegal immigrants.
“Well 2019 was not that long ago,” Girtz stated during the press conference. “You might remember the dynamic … where you had the president of the United States speaking in the most vile of terms about people who are foreign born.”
“Please stop it. This is an invasion!” the audience member yelled in response. “When I was younger, I was a criminal and you know what I thought about doing? Crossing the border to Mexico to get away from my crimes. Thanks to Jesus Christ, he saved me and I no longer live that lawless life, but you do. You are lawless, Mr. Mayor.”
Other people in the audience also jumped all over Girtz referring to him as a “liar” before going on to shout that he has “blood on his hands for this murder” while he was denying Athens was a “sanctuary city.”
Ibarra had an extensive criminal record and was arrested Friday soon after Riley’s body was discovered. The suspect lived in Athens, Georgia after crossing the southern border into El Paso, Texas.
“In the main, I caution against conflating immigration and crime,” Girtz went on to say. “The data demonstrates that the two are not connected.
The horrific crime in Athens is hardly the only one that’s happened ever since the horrific invasion of the southern border began, which was right when Biden took office. A different migrant from Venezuela was taken into custody after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the state of Virginia.
The Associated Presstook heat for trying to avoid linking Riley’s death to illegal immigration, posting an article on X claiming Riley’s death “highlights the fear of solo female athletes” and labelling the alleged murderer as an “Athens resident.”
All that needs to be done to bring this horror show to an end is to build the wall and enforce the law. Clearly, the refusal of the Biden administration to do so look intentional. Are Democrats so desperate to win against Trump they will cheat to do so by having those who are non-citizens vote? You can guarantee it. That’s nothing new.
What’s disturbing is how the left treats illegal migrants like they are a commodity and not a person, a means to an end politically speaking. It’s heartbreaking.
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