‘Blood on your hands’: Athens Mayor heckled by protestors during presser on Laken Riley murder
Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Mayor Kelly Girtz (D), faced ire from the public when he was addressing his community following the death of Laken Riley.
Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Mayor Kelly Girtz (D), faced ire from the public when he was addressing his community following the death of 22-year-old nursing student.
Laken Hope Riley was beaten to death on the University of Georgia and police arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26-year-old migrant, on charges of murder and assault.
According to authorities, Ibarra, a resident of Venezuela, was residing in Athens after entering the country illegally.
During the press briefing, Girtz said death of Laken Riley is “not connected” to illegal immigration and pointed the finger at ex-US President Donald Trump for being “mean” to illegals.
The people present at the briefing accused him of establishing a dangerous “sanctuary city.”
The demonstrators were carrying posters reading "Justice for Laken" and "Blood On Your Hands". They even yelled at Girtz as he discussed proposed additional safety measures for Athens.
“You're a liar” and "You are the one who's guilty, and you have blood on your hands," protesters chanted at the news conference.
Georgia Mayor addresses protestors
The protestors displayed their anger as Girtz discussed a contentious 2019 resolution he signed inviting all migrants, regardless of their legal immigration status, into the city of Athens.
"We unflinchingly defend the human rights of all people, including citizens, noncitizens and those without documentation," Girtz told reporters at the time.
On being asked to comment on the protest, the mayor said: “Trauma affects all of us. I understand in the wake of a great tragedy like this we are all deeply hurt and everybody expresses their hurt differently.”
Following this, one man screamed “this is an invasion" and asked him to leave.
“You’re the one guilty! You got blood on your hands for this murder, sir!” another man shouted.
Girtz denies any connect between crime and migrant policies, targets Trump
At Wednesday's news conference, Girtz defended the resolution against increased scrutiny, blaming it on Donald Trump's presidency.
“I want to say that we center our work here in Athens-Clarke County on people’s humanity and part of everybody’s humanity is the expectation of human dignity. While 2019 was not that long ago, you might remember the dynamic we were living in in the late teens in this country where you had the president of the United States speak in the most vile terms about people who were foreign born and you had that notion metastasizing —” he said, claiming there is “no connection” between the crime and migrant policies.
It is still unknow if Ibarra had applied for asylum, but Republicans in the US House are seeking more inputs about him from the US Department of Homeland Security.
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