‘Say her name’: Biden, Greene clash over Laken Riley case
WASHINGTON, D.C. - During his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden was interrupted by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene while discussing immigration issues.
Biden responded Thursday night by expressing empathy for the parents of Laken Riley.
The 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student’s body was found Feb. 22 near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia campus.
“Laken Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right. But how many thousands of people being killed by illegals? To her parents I say, my heart goes out to you having lost children myself,” Biden said.
Riley was reported missing to campus police after she didn’t return from a run.
Authorities have arrested Jose Ibarra, 26, a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case. He has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
MORE FROM NEWS 12:
Laken Riley’s phone called 911 during her murder, officials say
An open records request unveils new details about the death investigation of a nursing student killed on the University of Georgia campus last month.
Ga. lawmakers push crackdown on immigrant sanctuary cities
A number of Georgia lawmakers want to cut off most state aid to local governments offering sanctuary and remove elected officials from office.
Court documents detail the arrest of suspect’s brother
Diego Ibarra’s brother, Jose Antonio Ibarra, is the suspect in the death of nursing student Laken Riley, 22, on the University of Georgia’s campus.
U.S. House overwhelmingly approves ‘Laken Riley Act’
The U.S. House of Representatives ed the Laken Riley Act, legislation meant to provide more tools against crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
Biden was confronted as he walked into the House chamber by Greene, decked out in a red Trump MAGA hat and a t-shirt emblazoned with the message, which was also on a button she pressed into his hand.
“Say her name,” it said, the phrase evoking the language used by activists after the death of George Floyd and others at the hands of police.
The death of Riley has become a rallying cry for Republicans, a tragedy that they say encomes the Biden istration’s handling of the U.S-Mexico border amid a record surge of immigrants entering the country. An immigrant from Venezuela who entered the U.S. illegally has been arrested and charged with murder.
Midway through the speech, Biden started talking about border security and called on Congress to legislation to secure the border and modernize the country’s outdated immigration laws, praising the bipartisan effort that collapsed when his likely Republican presidential rival, Donald Trump, opposed it.
Greene interjected, “Say her name!”
The congresswoman from Georgia yelled, pointing a finger, and jabbing it toward Biden.
And then Biden did just that.
He held up the white button, and said: “Laken Riley.”
Biden spoke briefly of her death and he made reference to his own family’s trauma — his first wife and young daughter were killed in 1972 after an automobile crash. His son, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015.
And then he urged Congress to work together to a border security compromise.
“Get this bill done!” Biden said.
He even called on his Republic an opponent Donald Trump to stop fighting against any border deal.
“We can do it together,” he said.
Hours earlier, the House voted to the “Laken Riley Act,” which would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain unauthorized migrants who are accused of theft.
Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, said this week that he had invited Riley’s parents to the State of the Union address, but they had “chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter.”
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
