Staff Reports
In the aftermath of the tragic murder of Laken Riley in Georgia, Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz displayed an appalling level of condescension and dismissal towards any connection between the county’s refusal to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the senseless crime. He even had the audacity to insist that Athens-Clarke County is not a sanctuary jurisdiction, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.
Exclusive–O’Brien: Emails Reveal Athens Mayor Saw Laken Riley’s Murder as a PR Problem
If you’re moving south, avoid GA. Don’t allow your children to attend their universities. Not a safe environment. https://t.co/wKJMoPjZP9
— RedState (@BordersUSA) March 26, 2024
The term “sanctuary city” is thrown around by liberals like Mayor Girtz as if it has no clear definition, when in fact, it directly contradicts the Supremacy Clause of the 10th Amendment which clearly assigns the regulation of immigration to the federal government. Yet, Athens-Clarke County has been openly defying federal immigration law by refusing to detain criminal aliens for pick-up by ICE. So, no matter how much Mayor Girtz tries to dance around the truth, the county’s actions speak for themselves.
To make matters worse, a leaked email exchange between Clarke County Sheriff John Q. Williams and Mayor Girtz revealed the sheriff’s utter ignorance of his own department’s policies regarding cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Instead of prioritizing the safety and security of the community, Sheriff Williams seemed more concerned with protecting the reputation of his department.
Even more alarming, Mayor Girtz, in his response to Sheriff Williams, expressed support for non-cooperation policies with ICE and even went as far as praising the detainer policy as “humane” and perpetuated the myth that illegal aliens are less criminally inclined than American citizens. It’s truly mind-boggling that an elected official would openly back policies that directly undermine the rule of law and put American citizens at risk.
And if that wasn’t enough, Mayor Girtz’s lack of empathy and accountability reached new lows when he suggested that the focus should be on “comfort and unity” in the wake of Laken Riley’s murder, rather than addressing the glaring issues with the county’s sanctuary policies. It’s clear that Girtz is more interested in pandering to illegal immigrants than upholding the law and protecting the citizens he was elected to serve.
The heartbreaking reality is that Laken Riley’s tragic death has been callously reduced to a mere “public relations problem” by Mayor Girtz, highlighting the complete disregard for the safety and well-being of American citizens. It’s a stark reminder that our elected officials are failing to prioritize the safety and security of their constituents over their own partisan agendas.
In the end, it’s a sobering realization that Americans now have just as much to fear from their elected leaders as they do from criminals on the streets. The blatant disregard for the rule of law and the safety of American citizens displayed by Mayor Girtz and Sheriff Williams is a disgrace to the office they hold and a danger to the community they are meant to protect.
