Does Laken Riley’s trial prove that justice is back?



On Wednesday, Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, was found guilty of killing University of Georgia student Laken Riley and was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Glenn Beck plays the clip of Judge H. Patrick Haggard reading the verdict of the four-day trial to Ibarra, who sat there emotionless. Ibarra was found guilty on all 10 counts, which included malice murder, three counts of felony murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with attempt to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing a person making an emergency call, tampering with evidence, and a peeping Tom charge.

“I'm happy that justice is at some level hitting this guy, but more just angry of how unnecessary it all was,” says co-host Stu Burguiere.

“The Biden administration put [Ibarra] on one of those ghost flights in the middle of the night so he could live in Georgia,” adds Glenn, who feels heartbroken for Riley’s family but glad at what the verdict of this trial indicates: “Justice is back.”

While some illegal immigration is inevitable, as people have always found ways to sneak across the border, immigrants like Ibarra are entirely preventable.

“We caught him and released him into the country. He got arrested multiple more times while he was here; we still gave him a free flight; we still put him up in the Roosevelt Hotel with free lodging, and then we sent him to Georgia with a free flight. He got arrested there with his brother. We still kept releasing him, and then after all of that, he murdered this poor woman,” says Stu, laying out the horrific history of both Ibarra and the radical leftist policies that teed Ibarra up to murder Laken Riley.

Even still, some blue state government officials are swearing to protect their illegal immigrant populations against big, bad Donald Trump, Glenn explains, noting that these are the same blue cities that not that long ago were complaining about their infrastructure collapsing under the weight of illegal immigration and even sending groups of immigrants to other states.

“I hope that the president finds the constitutionally legal way to cut you off from every funding,” says Glenn to the cities planning to stymie the Trump administration’s efforts to carry out mass deportations.

“[Trump] will, I think, overrule and overrun some of these people who are trying to avoid the law in their local jurisdictions, and he should do that,” says Stu.

To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.

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MSNBC legal analyst pens sympathetic portrayal of Laken Riley's murderer — prompting severe online backlash



Many on the right are slamming left-leaning outlet MSNBC after one of its legal analysts penned a piece presenting a sympathetic portrayal of Jose Ibarra, the illegal alien who brutally murdered Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

On Friday, MSNBC published on its website an article entitled "Laken Riley's killer never stood a chance" by Danny Cevallos, a legal analyst and a criminal defense attorney who specializes in wrongful convictions and personal injury cases.

Though the article makes passing mention of the "overwhelming and horrific" evidence that "likely" prompted Ibarra's team to call for a bench trial as well as the "heartrending testimony of Riley’s loved ones" that helped "justify" Ibarra's sentence of life without parole, it otherwise presents the case as an unfortunate no-win situation for the defense.

"For the defense, this was a hopeless case," Cevallos wrote, adding, "The verdict was going to be guilty."

Cevallos also tipped his cap to Ibarra's attorneys for doing what they could with "bad facts." He even seemingly thanked Ibarra for sparing the state a protracted jury trial when a guilty verdict was all but certain.

"While you probably won’t see that written in any rules or law books, in my experience as a defense attorney, judges (and prosecutors) appreciate defendants who don’t waste the court’s time," Cevallos said.

'This is why Americans stopped watching the liberal media and will never turn it on again. MSNBC is a disgrace.'

In contrast to his apparent admiration for the defense team, Cevallos was less complimentary of Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard, lamenting that Haggard "cut" Ibarra "no breaks."

For example, though Georgia courts often allow defendants to serve their various sentences concurrently, Haggard instead ordered Ibarra to serve his sentences consecutively, Cevallos noted. This decision — which would have seemingly little practical effect on a sentence of life without the possibility of parole — offered the public a "glimpse into the judge’s opinion of this defendant," Cevallos said in an apparently critical tone.

It is worth recalling that despite Cevallos' thinly veiled hand-wringing, Ibarra is an illegal alien who had no right to be in the U.S., he is a member of the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, and he tried to force himself on an innocent young woman out for a jog. When she refused to submit, he bashed her head with a rock until she died in terror and agony.

Additionally, Cevallos implied that the murder of Laken Riley unfairly became a political weapon with which the right hammered Democrats this election season. "Riley’s murder became a political rallying cry at this summer’s Republican National Convention because Ibarra entered the country illegally in 2022," he said.

Finally, Cevallos closed his article with one final gesture of thanks to the defense:

Sometimes defense counsel just gets handed a truly awful, unwinnable case. The defense’s choice of a bench trial not only saved the state the resources of a wasted jury trial; it also likely avoided unnecessarily prolonging this traumatic experience for the victim’s family.

The online backlash against Cevallos' analysis was swift and fierce.

"You literally can’t make up this level of depravity. These people are sick. The guy is a murderer. He’s an illegal alien that killed an innocent young woman but MSNBC would rather go to bat for him. However, much you hate MSNBC it’s not enough!" wrote Donald Trump Jr.

"Ask yourself: Why is MSNBC writing sympathetic headlines for an illegal alien monster and killer?" wrote conservative commentator Steve Guest. "Why is MSNBC’s 'legal analyst' Danny Cevallos ok with this headline?"

The Federalist contributor Adam Johnston likewise called the article headline "absolutely sickening," while columnist Joe Concha called the entire piece "infuriating garbage."

Former finance executive and big bank satirist John LeFevre spoke for many when he called out MSNBC in general for the article: "WTF is wrong with you, @MSNBC[?]"

Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, likewise slammed the entire network as "a disgrace" for publishing the article: "This is why Americans stopped watching the liberal media and will never turn it on again. MSNBC is a disgrace."

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MSNBC’s Repeated Sympathy For Laken Riley’s Killer Shows You Don’t Hate Corporate Media Enough

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-22-at-1.07.35 PM-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-11-22-at-1.07.35%5Cu202fPM-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]MSNBC said 'Laken Riley's killer never stood a chance.' This is just the latest example of the outlet failing its readers.
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Cru’s “Diversity Team” Sent a Ridiculous Post-Election Email | Ep 1105

Why did Biden fly Laken Riley's murderer to Georgia?



Laken Riley was only 22 years old when she was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.

The nursing student had innocently gone for a jog on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia, where 26-year-old Jose Ibarra then decided to take her life.

Ibarra was found guilty on all counts Wednesday morning in the fast-moving trial.

The prosecutor explained to the jury that the immigrant had been walking around different apartment complexes essentially hunting for a woman to rape, when he saw Laken Riley jogging by herself on a Sunday morning.

“She fought so hard for her life, she fought so hard for her dignity, she was almost completely unclothed,” Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable” comments after listening to the prosecutor's opening statement.


“Because of how hard she fought, she wasn’t completely exposed, but when the police officer found her laying there with her skull crushed in by the rock that Ibarra allegedly picked up and hit her with, at least half of her body was completely naked because he tried and failed, thank the Lord, to rape her before murdering her,” Stuckey says.

Riley was reportedly wearing a smartwatch at the time, which revealed that her heart rate had spiked during the 17-minute attack.

Her attacker has been confirmed to be a member of Tren de Aragua, a dangerous Venezuelan gang that has infiltrated and plagued parts of America with extreme violence.

He had also been arrested by the NYPD a year after he entered the United States in August 2023, but not because he was here illegally. Rather, Ibarra was arrested because he committed the crime of acting in a manner to injure a child and had a motor vehicle license violation.

Now, it’s been revealed that Ibarra, along with other illegal immigrants, was granted a free humanitarian flight from New York to Georgia.

“So he was the beneficiary of Biden’s catch-and-release policy at the border. So he was detained when he tried to cross illegally in 2022, and then he was released into the interior of the United States per Biden’s policies, and then he was the beneficiary of a catch-and-release policy because of progressive soft-on-crime policies in New York,” Stuckey comments.

“And not only that, but he was actually given the gift, as a reward for the crimes that he had committed, he was given the gift of a free, taxpayer-funded flight from New York to Georgia, where he eventually killed Laken Riley,” she adds, disgusted.

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Indictment reveals disturbing new accusations against illegal immigrant charged with killing Laken Riley: 'A peeping tom'



A Georgia grand jury has officially indicted the man police say killed college student Laken Riley in February.

An indictment filed on Tuesday in Clarke County charged 26-year-old illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra with 10 crimes: three counts of felony murder, one count of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstruction or hindering a person making an emergency telephone call, and tampering with evidence.

They described the horrific murder as a "crime of opportunity."

The indictment included another charge for a totally separate, yet disturbing, allegation: Ibarra was charged with one count of being a "peeping tom."

According to the indictment, Ibarra went to an apartment complex at the University of Georgia on the same day he allegedly killed Riley "for the purpose of becoming a peeping tom in that he did peep through the window and spied upon and invaded the privacy" of the occupant. That victim is a university employee, WAGA-TV reported.

The indictment includes other shocking allegations.

Prosecutors allege that Ibarra killed Riley "by inflicting blunt-force trauma to her head and by asphyxiating her." The indictment alleges that Ibarra "seriously disfigured" Riley "by striking her head multiple times with a rock."

Police have said that Ibarra did not know Riley. Rather, they described the horrific murder as a "crime of opportunity."

Ibarra, an immigrant from Venezuela, has been living in the U.S. since September 2022 when he entered illegally near El Paso, Texas. After entering illegally, Ibarra was taken into custody and then paroled.

Immigration officials say Ibarra later moved to New York City, where he had encounters with police. Last September, Ibarra was charged with a felony for "acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation," but he was released from jail before Immigration and Customs Enforcement could lodge a detainer against him. New York City is a "sanctuary city."

Ibarra then moved to Georgia last fall.

Tragically, ICE was able to lodge a detainer against Ibarra only after Riley's murder.

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Speaker Johnson points out what is missing in Biden's apology for calling Laken Riley's accused killer an 'illegal'



House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) rebuked President Joe Biden on Sunday for kowtowing to liberal word police.

At the State of the Union address last Thursday, Biden referred to Jose Ibarra, the Venezuelan immigrant charged with murdering Laken Riley, as an "illegal." The moment upset Democrats who believe the adjective is dehumanizing. The next day, Biden appeared to defend himself by pointing out that Ibarra was "technically not supposed to be here."

But on Saturday, Biden capitulated, telling MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart that Ibarra is "an undocumented person."

"I shouldn't have used 'illegal.' It's 'undocumented,'" Biden said, confirming that he feels "regret" for describing Ibarra as an "illegal."

"I'm not gonna treat any of these people with disrespect. They built the country. They're the reason the economy is growing" Biden added of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

— (@)

It is a remarkable moment for several reasons.

First, remember that Democrats upset about Biden's use of the word "illegal" were not upset that Biden butchered Riley's name. During the SOTU address, he said Riley's first name was "Lincoln."

Now, Biden is virtue-signaling to appease progressive Democrats, and seemingly Riley's alleged killer, instead of expressing regret that she was murdered at all and that his immigration policies may have contributed to her death. That, of course, was the exact determination of House Republicans and 37 House Democrats last week.

Meanwhile, Biden did not apologize for butchering Riley's name, which upset her mother.

Biden's apology, then, is an "embarrassment," according to Speaker Johnson.

"The president is cowering to his base and showing deference to a man who deserves none," the speaker said. "This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley. President Biden should be apologizing to Laken’s family. What an embarrassment."

— (@)

But Biden is not apologizing to Riley's family for getting their daughter's name wrong or for allowing the border crisis to grow unmitigated. The silence, indeed, is deafening.

Meanwhile, the White House is already engaging in damage control.

On Monday, spokeswoman Olivia Dalton claimed that Biden did not apologize for using the word "illegal" because he "used a different word," seemingly in reference to Biden not specifically saying "sorry" or "apologize."

But someone should loan the White House a dictionary because Biden did make "an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret" in his interview with Capehart, which is the textbook definition of "apology."

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'You're fired!' Angry residents confront Democrat mayor for defending immigration policies after Laken Riley murder



Angry residents voiced their frustration on Wednesday with Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz (D) for downplaying a connection between immigration chaos and the heinous murder of Laken Riley.

At a press conference, Girtz defended Athens from critics who have described it as a so-called "sanctuary city." Girtz claimed that's not true despite the city passing a resolution in 2019 welcoming all people, including immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, to Athens — essentially making the city a de facto sanctuary city.

Girtz's defensive posture drew angry outbursts from residents at the press conference.

"Liar!" multiple residents yelled.

Other residents suggested that Girtz's denials were insulting their intelligence, while others demanded his resignation. Residents also claimed that Girtz shared responsibility for Riley's death and even shouted at him, "You're fired!"'

At one point, Girtz warned people "against conflating immigration and crime." That assertion led to more outbursts from angry residents.

— (@)

A media member later asked Girtz about the 2019 resolution, and the mayor justified it by invoking Donald Trump.

"I want to say that we center our work here in Athens-Clarke County on people’s humanity, and part of everybody’s humanity is the expectation of human dignity. While 2019 was not that long ago, you might remember the dynamic we were living in in the late teens in this country, where you had the president of the United States speak in the most vile terms about people who were foreign-born, and you had that notion metastasizing —" Girtz said when angry residents shouted over him.

"Oh, please stop it! This is an invasion!" one man screamed. "You are lawless, mayor!"

At every turn in the presser, Girtz defended the resolution and argued it was necessary because the political environment at the time was fomenting a culture of white supremacy and xenophobia.

To the point that Athens is a de facto sanctuary city, one reporter asked Girtz how he can justify the fact that numerous undocumented immigrants lived in the same apartment as Jose Ibarra, the Venezuelan immigrant charged with Riley's murder.

"We are deeply sorry for this tragedy. Responsibility for this crime rests solely on the perpetrator," Girtz responded.

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