(ReliableNews.org) – Laken Riley’s death has become a flashpoint in the fight over immigration control. The 22-year-old was allegedly murdered by an undocumented immigrant while out running in Athens, Georgia. The late nursing student’s father has spoken out for the first time and criticized politicians on both sides of the aisle for exploiting his daughter’s murder.
On March 18, NBC News aired an interview with Jason Riley. It was the first time he sat down to discuss his daughter on camera. He told Priscilla Thompson that he wants the world to remember Laken for “the way she lived,” not just the way she died.
“She was an angel,” Mr. Riley said.
Laken had dreams of becoming a nurse so she could work with kids. Her dad also said she was an avid marathon runner. On the day she died, the Augusta University student was running through the trails in the Oconee Forest Park on the University of Georgia’s campus. Her alleged murderer, 26-year-old José Antonio Ibarra, attacked and killed her in broad daylight.
Thompson asked Jason Riley if he believed a “difference in immigration policy would have made a difference for Laken.” He responded that he had “no idea if that would have changed anything” but acknowledged the suspect had entered the country illegally and he might not have been able to do that if the borders were secure.
Thompson pointed out that politicians are all talking about his daughter. President Joe Biden and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) even had an argument about her at the State of the Union Address. Mr. Riley said he feels as though Laken is “being used somewhat politically.” Thompson asked him how that made him feel. He said that it makes him “angry” because his daughter was “much better than that,” and he feels she should be “raised up for the person that she” was.
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