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Conservatives called out the Associated Press on Sunday for appearing to categorize Laken Riley’s murder as more about the “fears of solo female athletes” rather than illegal immigration and weak crime laws.
Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, was found dead Thursday after previously attending the University of Georgia before entering a nursing program at Augusta’s Athens campus, where she made the Dean’s List.
Police have charged Jose Antonio Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another. By Sunday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also confirmed that Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and had previously been arrested in New York City.
University of Georgia murder suspect Jose Ibarra, who allegedly murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on Feb. 22, entered the country illegally. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital/ Laken Riley/ Jose Ibarra)
However, the AP published an article on the murder on Saturday without referencing Ibarra’s immigration or criminal record and instead focused on how Riley was murdered while jogging by herself.
“Riley’s death has once again put the spotlight on the dangers female runners face. Previously, the 2018 death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts while out jogging prompted an outpouring from other women who shared their tales of being harassed and followed,” the article read.
Several social media users called out this angle for focusing only on “female runners” and referring to Ibarra as an “Athens resident” rather than noting Tibbetts was killed by an illegal immigrant, and another is suspected in the murder of Riley. A separate AP report on Saturday mentioned the police didn’t know the suspects immigration status yet, but it wasn’t updated as of Sunday evening.
“Pretty sure that’s not the lesson here,” The Spectator contributing editor Stephen Miller commented.
In a longer post, Outkick columnist Mary Katharine Ham wrote, “Hi, female athlete here. I ran this exact trail every single week of my college career. I guess I could have been snuffed out before I graduated, had a career, family, and the professionals at the AP would lie about the suspect bc it fits a preferred narrative.”
The Associated Press did not reference Ibarra’s immigration status. (Clarke County Sheriffs Office)
She continued, “Ibarra is not merely an ‘Athens resident,’ and Laken Riley and every other student was put in danger by not enforcing laws and allowing a man arrested 3x after crossing the border to hang out and work on campus. He had to escalate to alleged murder to be held and/or risk deportation. Good policies. Good work. This story even cites the 2018 murder of Mollie Tibbetts in IA as a reason solo female runners should be worried, *also without noting her killer was an illegal immigrant.* Just stop lying!”
“It really is jaw dropping how hard the media will work to avoid mentioning any aspect of a story that makes their political party or progressive ideology look bad,” fellow Outkick writer Ian Miller wrote.
RealClearPolitics co-founder Tom Bevan posted, “Just insane framing. The media never fails to disappoint.”
“The answer is to disarm them and allow in more illegal alien criminals,” Townhall.com columnist Kurt Schlichter wrote.
Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy said, “Arrested (illegal alien from Venezuela illegally released by Biden) ‘Athens resident.’ But sure, NOW the AP cares about this antiquated idea of ‘female.’”
“By tomorrow the AP will be tying this to climate change,” Twitchy’s Doug Powers joked.
Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. (Allyson Phillips/Facebook)
Fox News Digital reached out to the Associated Press for a comment.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, ICE confirmed Ibarra had been encountered by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sept. 8, 2022 after entering near El Paso and was “paroled and released for further processing.”
ICE also confirmed that Ibarra had been arrested by the New York Police Department a year later, on Sept. 14, 2023, and “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.”
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Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
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