In a recent incident that has sparked outrage, a Georgia politician invoked President Donald Trump’s name while discussing the murder of a college student, allegedly by an illegal immigrant. This move was met with immediate backlash and calls for his resignation.
Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz faced accusations of lying as he addressed the tragic death of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus. The alleged perpetrator is Venezuelan illegal alien Jose Ibarra.
‘Resign!’ Athens, Georgia, Mayor Kelly Girtz gets fiercely heckled over Laken Riley murder by illegal alien pic.twitter.com/hCALmkiAW1
— WND News (@worldnetdaily) February 29, 2024
According to a report in the Georgia Star News, Girtz denied that Athens is a sanctuary city and refuted claims that it does not comply with detainers filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These detainers request local law enforcement to hold illegal immigrants for transfer to federal authorities for prosecution or deportation.
Girtz argued that these terms mean “different things to different people depending on the context of the discussion.” The local government recently created an 18-page document claiming it is not a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. However, the Clarke County Sheriff’s Department policy requires law enforcement to release illegal immigrants with ICE detainers unless federal law enforcement supplies a warrant. Even then, illegal immigrants will only be held for 48 hours.
The mayor’s comments were in response to a 2019 video which appeared to include a sanctuary declaration. He criticized former President Trump’s rhetoric about foreign-born individuals and linked it to incidents like Charlottesville. His speech was interrupted by an audience member who declared, “This is an invasion.”
Police reports indicate that Ibarra, the alleged murderer, entered the U.S. illegally in 2018.