President-elect Donald Trump released a statement on Truth Social and X Wednesday afternoon after Laken Riley’s killer was convicted.
Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan with ties to the Tren de Aragua gang, was found guilty on 10 charges, including murder, kidnapping, and aggravated assault with intent to rape Riley. The illegal immigrant attacked and killed Riley while she was running at the University of Georgia campus in Athens on February 22, 2024. Trump said he hopes the conviction will “help bring some peace and closure to [Riley’s] wonderful family.”
“JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY! The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes. Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for Justice, and to ensure that other families don’t have to go through what they have,” Trump wrote. “We love you, Laken, and our hearts will always be with you. It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again!”
JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY! The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes. Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2024
Riley called 911 before she was kidnapped and murdered by Ibarra, but when the dispatcher answered, there was no response. During Ibarra’s trial, prosecutor Sheila Ross summarized the brutality of the illegal immigrant’s violence against the young woman.
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“[H]e put huge holes in her head with a rock and he did it more than once. There is no reason for him to do that except to silence her forever,” Ross said, according to the New York Post.
It was also revealed during the trial that Ibarra was flown to Georgia at the taxpayers’ expense.
Before holding a rally in Georgia in March, Trump met with Riley’s “beautiful mother and family backstage.” During his rally, Trump discussed Riley’s tragic death, saying, “We vow to keep Laken’s memory alive for as long as we are here on this Earth and we take comfort that she is now home with God in Heaven.”
He also blasted the Biden administration’s border policies, saying, “Biden has implemented a formal policy that illegal aliens who intrude into the United States are granted immunity from deportation. Thus, when this monster showed up, at our border, he was set free immediately under the program that Crooked Joe created.”
