The Democrat mayor of Athens, Georgia, Kelly Girtz faced heated backlash during a press conference on Wednesday after downplaying the murder of 22-year-old college student Laken Riley at the hands of an illegal alien.
Girtz began the press conference by defending illegal immigration and insinuating Riley’s murder was the fault of former President Donald Trump, which was quickly met with scorn by the audience.
“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 before groans from angry residents stopped him.
“Oh, please stop it! This is an invasion!” a man said. “You are lawless, mayor!”
Tempers flare from community members at a press conference by the Mayor of Athens giving an update to the death of Laken Riley. They are calling for the Mayor to resign. @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/aVEZaZwn3y
— Eric Perry (@Ericperrytv) February 28, 2024
Girtz then tried playing semantic games, claiming that Athens is not necessarily a “sanctuary city” because that term means “different things to different people depending on the context.”
“We know what it means,” one protester retorted.
“Liar!” another added. “You’re the one guilty! You got blood on your hands for this murder, sir!”
Girtz notably declared Athens a sanctuary city in 2019.
2/ In 2019, the Athens City Council passed a resolution “to foster a community where individuals and families of all statuses feel safe,” so that “all people, including those WITHOUT documentation, feel welcome and comfortable.”
Hear it from Mayor Girtz himself: pic.twitter.com/ugqzHhcN9D
— Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) February 28, 2024
Girtz then insisted that Riley’s brutal murder at the hands of a Venezuelan national who illegally entered the U.S. was not related to illegal immigration.
“I caution against conflating immigration and crime. The data demonstrates that the two are not connected,” he said.
“You need to go, sir. We don’t want to hear from you anymore. You’re not defending us. You’re not upholding your oath of office. You are a criminal,” one protester said.
“We’re here to listen. We’re here to listen,” Girtz responded.
Of course, Riley’s death is directly linked to illegal immigration given a Venezuelan national with a criminal history who illegally entered the U.S. is charged with beating Riley to death.
Riley was beaten so badly that her skull had been disfigured.
Contrary to Girtz’s remarks, data shows illegal immigration since Biden took office is positively correlated with the rise of violent crime in the U.S.
“A 2021 Department of Justice report revealed that 64% of federal arrests in 2018 involved noncitizens, despite them comprising only 7% of the population at that time. While the Biden administration fails to provide continuous updates on illegal alien crime data, Texas’ Department of Public Safety maintains a running database of such incidents,” the Heritage Foundation wrote.
And that was data taken BEFORE Biden’s open border invasion.
Reports just emerged that an El Salvadorean illegal alien with a storied criminal history was charged for killing a 2-year-old child.
BREAKING: A criminal from El Salvador was arrested today for k*lling a 2-year-old kid. He is in our country illegally.
He’s been here since 2022 and has a long criminal history. ICE requested to detain him in 2023 but local woke courts released him from custody.
How many more… pic.twitter.com/bGUSwPVizI
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 28, 2024
And a Honduran illegal immigrant was just arrested for raping a 14-year-old girl at knifepoint in Louisiana.
Additionally, other data shows Venezuela’s own violent crime rate has plummeted as its gang members and criminals flee the country to illegally cross into the U.S.
If only Democrats fought as hard for the rights of American citizens as they do for illegal aliens.
Watch the full press conference:
