The father of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant last month, has spoken out for the first time since his daughter’s death. Jason Riley told NBC’s TODAY show that he wishes “it would have been me.” He also criticised those who are politicising her death.
“I wish I would have been there to protect her,” Jason said. “I wish it would have been me.”
Riley killer Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, had entered the US from Venezuela illegally. The student’s death soon turned into a political flash point. “I’d rather her not be such a political, how you say — it started a storm in our country,” he said. “It’s incited a lot of people.”
Riley’s killing prompted conservatives to discuss border security, bringing negative responses from both sides of the aisle. “There’s people on both sides that have lashed out at our families,” Jason said, referring to himself and Riley’s mom. The pair is reportedly divorced.
“I think it’s being used politically to get those votes,” he said. “It makes me angry. I feel like, you know, they’re just using my daughter’s name for that. And she was much better than that, and she should be raised up for the person that she is. She was an angel.”
‘I just didn’t want to believe it’
{{/usCountry}}“I think it’s being used politically to get those votes,” he said. “It makes me angry. I feel like, you know, they’re just using my daughter’s name for that. And she was much better than that, and she should be raised up for the person that she is. She was an angel.”
‘I just didn’t want to believe it’
{{/usCountry}}Jason said that the national spotlight on Riley’s death has made it difficult for him to grieve. The issue escalated recently when Joe Biden, while speaking about Riley publicly, referred to her as Lincoln Riley.
“It was really surreal. I just didn’t want to believe it — it’s still hard to believe,” Jason said.
Jason said he supports Donald Trump. He said that although he wishes the incident had not become “so political,” he did think it helped people bring important issues like border safety and violence against women to the fore.
“Laken has been a rallying cry for secure borders and for the illegal immigration policies of this current administration, but there’s many women we don’t get to hear about,” he said.
Ibarra has been charged with malice and felony murder, aggravated battery, kidnapping, concealing the death of another and other charges. Police said the incident was a “crime of opportunity.”