Reactions to Justice for Laken Riley

On Wednesday, the trial of illegal immigrant José Ibarra for the murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student whom Ibarra killed on the campus of the University of Georgia, concluded with Ibarra sentenced to life in prison. Here at PJ Media, we demonstrated how the woke government of Athens-Clarke County, where UGA is located, failed Riley, as did Democrats at every level.

My friend and colleague Sarah Anderson covered the trial and verdict, and those who have sought to put an end to the border crisis and its resulting crime weighed in on the outcome of the trial.

President-elect Donald Trump shared his thoughts on Truth Social:

JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY! The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes. Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for Justice, and to ensure that other families don’t have to go through what they have. We love you, Laken, and our hearts will always be with you. It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again!

Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) wrote in a statement on Instagram:

Though we are glad that justice has been delivered on behalf of Laken Riley, we continue to mourn her loss with her family and friends and know that she should still be with us today. The information revealed in this trial was heartbreaking, and we applaud the bravery of Laken's loved ones for reliving that horrible day to ensure her killer faced the consequences of his senseless actions. We will not let ourselves forget Laken or stop working to ensure her memory lives on.
This criminal should never have been allowed to enter our country, and he certainly should not have been allowed to stay after shamelessly breaking our laws. Open border policies failed Laken Riley, and today's verdict is a reminder that the safety of our communities must remain our number one priority. While our state has taken considerable actions to address the impact of the border crisis, I will not waver in supporting efforts that secure our border and keep this state and our nation safe.

Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr had a similar message:

Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), whose district includes Athens-Clarke County (and who is my congressman), had a simple statement on X:

John King, Georgia's insurance commissioner and first Hispanic elected statewide official, weighed in:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene expressed a heartfelt sentiment:

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R-Ga.) contrasted Georgia’s quest for justice for Riley with the Democrats and their disastrous open-border policies on the national level:

State Rep. Houston Gaines (R-120th District), whose district includes part of Athens-Clarke County — and who exposed DA Deborah Gonzalez’s refusal to pursue the death penalty for Ibarra — had this to say:

Gonzalez not only wouldn’t seek the death penalty in this heinous case, but she said she would “take into account collateral consequences to undocumented defendants,” and her policies led to her ouster on Election Day. She’s shockingly silent on her X feed about the justice that occurred on Wednesday.

Instead, she thanked Joe Biden for one of his post-election tweets and featured tweets from the far-left Working Families Party as well as tweets about Puerto Rican Heritage Month and World Kindness Day. It’s a shame that Ibarra wasn’t kind to Riley that February day.

Thank God that Riley’s family has seen justice for her horrific murder. But that doesn’t bring her back, and her family will always suffer her loss.