After Athens-Clarke County Mayor insisted the area where nursing student Laken Riley was killed by a suspected illegal immigrant was not a sanctuary city, residents pointed out that the sheriff campaigned for not cooperating with ICE. did.
A resurfaced 2020 video shows then-candidate John Williams, who is now Athens-Clarke County Sheriff, saying he would not cooperate with ICE.
“It is not my intention to cooperate with detainees,” Williams told reporters. Athenian political geek. “I think it’s the sheriff’s responsibility to protect the community. We can’t help a culture of fear in the community and expect the community to respond and help us depending on the situation.” Masu.”
Laken Riley incident: Hecklers yell at Athens mayor for denying sanctuary city and announcing security fund
Athens Sheriff John Williams has waged a campaign against cooperating with ICE detainees. (Clark County Sheriff’s Office)
During his campaign, Mr Williams promised not to be “complicit” in a “culture of fear”.
“Building relationships is important, and if you turn on people because they’re illegal immigrants, you’re instilling that fear in people, and they don’t come to us. They’re not likely to come, not just when we need their help, but when they need our help,”’ Williams said. “So that’s not what we’re going to do. We’re not going to do any kind of roundups and we’re not going to be part of a culture of fear.”
“We want people to respect the police, but we also want them to trust us,” he added.
Protesters interrupt Athens Mayor Kelly Gertz during a press conference on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, in response to the murder of Augusta nursing student Laken Riley. Authorities say her alleged killer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, entered the United States illegally in 2022 and has had previous run-ins with American law enforcement. (Claudia Kelly Bazan/Fox News)
The sheriff’s past comments came after angry Georgia residents interrupted Athens Mayor Kelly Gertz’s press conference Wednesday morning about the city’s plans to strengthen public safety.
As he tried to reject the concept of a sanctuary city, protesters blocked him.
“You’re a liar,” one man repeatedly shouted. “You’re the one who’s guilty of this murder and has blood on your hands, sir!”
Laken Riley murder case fuels calls to hire more CBP agents and direct $15 billion in Democratic IRS salaries to the border
Gertz said georgia state law It does not recognize sanctuary cities and has repeatedly refused to characterize Athens as a sanctuary.
“There is no legislation coming out of this government to establish sanctuary city status,” he said.
Jose Ibarra was arrested on February 23rd in connection with the February 22nd murder of Laken Riley in Athens, Georgia. (Clark County Sheriff’s Office)
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There was widespread community outrage after Riley was allegedly killed on the University of Georgia campus by José Antonio Ibarra, an alleged illegal immigrant from Venezuela.
Fox News’ Claudia Kelly-Bazan and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
