We’ve seen plenty of coverage of the murder of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and the hunt for her killer. That’s perfectly understandable. A beautiful young life was taken from her family and the world. Her relatives are devastated and demanding justice. But all of the ongoing coverage has curiously seemed to break down into two distinct camps. One side is pointing to this tragedy as further proof that the illegal migrant invasion is poisoning our country. (The alleged killer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, came into the country illegally and was released.) The other camp is ignoring that part of the story entirely, instead focusing on the dangers that young women face. The New York Post editorial board published a great breakdown of this disparity in coverage yesterday and it’s definitely worth a look if you missed it.
Another day, another brutal crime committed by an illegal migrant — and another blind eye turned by the legacy media.
The Associated Press (currently being sued for its links to Hamas) conveniently failed to mention in a report on the Georgia murder of nursing student Laken Riley that suspected killer Jose Antonio Ibarra crossed the US border illegally.
Instead, the once-venerable news outfit chose to make the story about the fears of “solo female athletes” and cited recommendations that female runners “carry pepper spray or a whistle” and “run during daylight hours or with a friend.”
Sliding right up to the edge of victim-blaming, in other words.
I don’t know if I would go so far as to classify it as “victim-blaming” but it’s obviously a blatant example of leftist bias in coverage by omission. The AP is hardly the only example of this. I’ve been watching some of the reporting on Fox News and they’ve highlighted multiple outlets where pundits are wringing their hands over the tragedy without bringing up Ibarra and the journey that led him to eventually cross paths with Laken Riley with deadly results.
Other outlets have gone even further, claiming that it’s racist to point out Ibarra’s immigration status. It is apparently equally racist to claim that Laken Riley’s blood is on the hands of Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas, though that’s obviously true. Not ever migrant comes to the United States intending to commit crimes, but many clearly do or at least aren’t averse to seizing an “opportunity” when they see one.
Assuming that Ibarra is eventually found guilty as I believe he will be, the murder of Laken Riley still didn’t have to happen. That’s just the reality of the situation. If he hadn’t been released when he was first detained at the border, she would still be alive today. If someone had turned him over to ICE when he was arrested in New York, she would still be alive. If, if, if… the list goes on. So many opportunities for the system to have worked and yet that system let down Laken Riley in the end, costing her her life in the process. Even if they lock up Iberra for the rest of his unnatural life, it’s not going to bring Laken back to her family.
Apparently, we’re not supposed to talk about that, however. We’re supposed to wear blinders and pretend that Joe Biden’s open border policies had nothing to do with this. Tragically, Laken is far from the only example. How many murders and assaults have been committed by illegal migrants in the past three years? How many rapes? How many robberies? A staggering number of the migrants running free are members of Central and South American gangs who have reformed their ranks in the United States and gone right back to “business.”
Don’t even bother trying to tell me that some of the illegal migrants are just desperate people fighting for a chance at a better life. That may be true for some, be we had a functional migration system until Joe Biden showed up. There was a pathway for people in such conditions to come here legally, obtain the ability to legally work, and eventually achieve citizenship if they qualified. The process was slow, it’s true, and we couldn’t fit in everyone from around the world who tried to immigrate. But that’s no excuse for Joe Biden to come along, throw open the gates, and simply invite the entire world to come in, ne’er-do-wells included. And we’re all paying the price for it while Uncle Joe remains safely ensconced in his mansions with his 24/7 Secret Service protection. Where was Laken Riley’s security detail? Perhaps Joe Biden would be willing to answer that question.