A speech that the mayor of Athens, Georgia, was delivering addressing Laken Riley’s murder was interrupted by protesters, who called for his resignation.
Mayor Kelly Girtz spoke about Riley’s death that occurred in Athens, during which he clarified what the term sanctuary city means. In 2019, the Athens government had passed a resolution welcoming all immigrants to the city, regardless of if they were legal, a resolution that has returned to the public spotlight after the main suspect in Riley’s death, Jose Ibarra, was reported to be an illegal immigrant.
“You can look in contractual language, and you can find out exactly what it means to be an SEC institution,” Girtz said. “Sanctuary city doesn’t track with either of those, and so that term means different things to different people depending on the context of the discussion.”
This comment resulted in many attendees shouting “liar” at Girtz, with one person yelling that the mayor had “blood on your hands for this murder.” Girtz responded, “We are here to listen.”
When addressing the 2019 resolution, Girtz stated that city residents needed to remember that it was passed when the United States had a president who spoke “in the most vile terms about people who were foreign-born,” referring to then-President Donald Trump. This prompted the protesters to shout, “Please stop it,” with one person yelling, “This is an invasion.”
Documents obtained by the press in the wake of Riley’s death state that Ibarra is accused of kidnapping Riley and “disfiguring her skull” with an unspecified object. He has since been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another, according to WSB-TV 2.
Ibarra had illegally crossed into the United States from Venezuela through El Paso, Texas, in September 2022, according to reports. He was released due to a lack of detention space, according to NewsNation.
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Riley was attending Augusta University as a nursing student and was found dead on the campus of the University of Georgia. In the wake of her death, the university has announced $7.3 million in additional campus security measures.
A statement from Augusta University described Riley as “a bright and dedicated student” who had made the dean’s list the previous semester. Her funeral is scheduled to be held on Friday afternoon.
