Athens, Georgia, Democratic Mayor Kelly Girtz faced a barrage of heckling on Wednesday as he attempted to refute allegations of sanctuary policies in his city during a press conference addressing the case of an illegal immigrant accused of murdering nursing student Laken Riley.
During the press conference, a member of the audience shouted at Girtz while he was condemning Trump for his comments regarding illegal immigrants, the Daily Caller reported.
“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,” Girtz said.
“Please stop it. This is an invasion!” the audience member shouted.
“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,” the person continued. “Thanks to Jesus Christ, he saved me and I no longer live that lawless life, but you do. You are lawless, Mr. Mayor.”
Amid shouts of “liar” and accusations of having “blood on [his] hands for this murder” from other audience members, Girtz denied Athens’ classification as a “sanctuary city.”
“In the main, I caution against conflating immigration and crime,” Girtz asserted. “The data demonstrates that the two are not connected.
WATCH:
Jose Ibarra, the illegal immigrant hailing from Venezuela, accused of murdering Laken Riley, entered the U.S. in late 2022 and was released by authorities due to capacity constraints in detention facilities.
The incident has sparked broad outrage over the federal government’s perceived inaction regarding the border crisis.
Social media users and activists have also called out various mainstream media outlets like The Associated Press for its covering of the story.
“This young American girl was killed by an illegal alien. So, when we say that Americans are being replaced, we really mean it,” conservative activist Scott Presler posted on X.
“Democrats are welcoming illegal aliens into the country. They welcome the lawlessness,” he continued. “Democrats do not care about us or they would secure the border.”
This young American girl was killed by an illegal alien.
So, when we say that Americans are being replaced, we really mean it.
Democrats are welcoming illegal aliens into the country. They welcome the lawlessness.
Democrats do not care about us or they would secure the border.
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) February 25, 2024
