OAN’s Abril Elfi
4:23 PM – Tuesday, March 19, 2024
FBI Director Christopher Wray said that the U.S. agency is doing everything in its power to get “justice for Laken Riley.”
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Wray stated at the University of Georgia on Tuesday that the FBI is making every possible effort to secure “justice” for Riley, the Georgia nursing student who was murdered by a Venezuelan immigrant who illegally entered into the country during President Joe Biden’s administration.
“I want to tell you how heartbroken I am—not just for the family, friends, classmates, and staff who are grieving Laken’s loss,” Wray said. “But for Augusta University and the entire UGA community, of which many members of my own family are a part,. A lot of people—students, alumni, and community members alike—see Athens as a kind of safe haven from what ails so much of the rest of the country.”
Wray continued, stating that he is “saddened to see that sense of peace shattered by Laken’s murder and the subsequent arrest of a Venezuelan national who had illegally entered the country in 2022. We’re doing everything we can to help achieve justice for Laken.”
Previously, a spontaneous conversation broke out between Biden and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) during last month’s State of the Union address, when MTG raised the issue of Riley’s passing in the chamber.
Numerous Republicans have asserted that Biden and administration representatives have refrained from mentioning her name in order to downplay the crime and the suspect. Biden even apologized for referring to Laken Riley’s killer as an “illegal,” rather than apologizing to the victim’s family for rudely mispronouncing her name as “Lincoln.”
Riley, a nursing student at the Augusta University College of Nursing, was reported missing last month by her roommate after she had failed to return home after a run, which was untypical of her. Soon after, officials extensively searched for the missing student and later found Riley “not breathing” with “visible injuries” in a forested area near Lake Herrick.
Suspected murderer Jose Ibarra is accused of using an object or weapon to assault Riley, causing blunt force trauma and “disfiguring her skull.”
Ibarra was detained by the Border Patrol in September 2022 after entering the nation illegally from Venezuela, according to information released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). However, his wife told the New York Post that they were both put on a bus and sent to New York some time after. They later admitted that he was “set free while his case was investigated.” Additionally, according to ICE, he was detained once more in August 2023 in New York after he was caught driving under the influence without a license and acting in a way that could cause harm to a child under the age of 17.
Before ICE could place him under arrest, he was freed again by New York authorities. Pamela Peynado, a former immigration lawyer at the time who spoke to the press, explained that Venezuelans in the United States receive special protection status.
Ibarra is now being held without bond for murder and a slew of other crimes related to Riley’s death.
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