The father of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant while jogging last month, spoke out for the first time since his daughter’s death in an emotional interview.
“I wish I would have been there to protect her,” Jason Riley told NBC’s TODAY, in an interview that aired on Monday. “I wish it would have been me.”
An illegal immigrant suspect was arrested and charged last month for fatally attacking Riley while she was jogging around the University of Georgia’s campus. The suspect, Jose Ibarra, was apprehended and paroled near El Paso, Texas in September 2022 after coming to the southern border from Venezuela.
Ibarra was arrested in New York City last September for acting to injure a minor but he was released before Immigration and Customs Enforcement could issue a detainer. Weeks later, he was issued a shoplifting citation in Athens, Ga. He allegedly disfigured Riley’s skull and body when carrying out the murder, charging documents stated.
Riley’s death brought further scrutiny to President Joe Biden’s lax immigration policies and the record flows of migrants across the southern border. At the State of the Union address earlier this month, President Biden addressed Riley’s murder in response to heckling from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.).
Progressives were furious at Biden for calling Ibarra an “illegal” during his speech. Biden eventually caved to the pressure from progressives and apologized for accurately describing Ibarra.
“I’d rather her not be such a political, how you say — it started a storm in our country,” Jason Riley said, “and it’s incited a lot of people.”
Jason Riley said the political attention resulted in there being “people on both sides that have lashed out at our families,” referring to himself and Riley’s mother. The pair have been divorced since Riley was a child. Nonetheless, he remained close to his daughter and they spoke on a regular basis. They last spoke two weeks before Riley was killed.
“It was really surreal. I just didn’t want to believe it — it’s still hard to believe,” Riley said, while getting emotional. “I wake up every day thinking that I can call her, and I can’t.”
House lawmakers passed the Laken Riley Act on March 7th mandating immigration authorities detain illegal immigrants charged with theft or burglary. The bill was introduced by Representative Mike Collins (R., Ga.), whose district encompasses the area where Riley was killed. It passed with bipartisan support.
Former president Donald Trump met Riley’s mother and stepfather before a rally in Georgia earlier this month and criticized Biden’s handling of the border. Jason Riley, also a Trump supporter, wishes his daughter’s death was less political.
“I think it’s being used politically to get those votes,” Jason Riley said of his daughter’s death. “It makes me angry. I feel like, you know, they’re just using my daughter’s name for that. And she was much better than that, and she should be raised up for the person that she is. She was an angel.”
Jason Riley believes his daughter’s death has contributed to necessary conversations about the border crisis and sex trafficking victims.
“Laken has been a rallying cry for secure borders and for the illegal immigration policies of this current administration, but there’s many women we don’t get to hear about,” he stated.
Ibarra remains in jail as he faces several charges of murder and assault.