Mollie Tibbetts’ Cousin Slams Conservatives For Making Her Murder About Illegal Immigration
A second family member of Mollie Tibbetts has publicly lashed out at Republicans who are turning the Iowa woman’s murder into a talking point about illegal immigration, Yahoo News is reporting.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the suspect in the murder of the 20-year-old jogger, 24-year-old Christhian Rivera, may be in the country illegally (there are conflicting statements about his immigration status – more on that at the end of this article). Regardless of the uncertainty about his status, several Republican politicians, including Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, have all spoken of Mollie’s death within the context of illegal immigration.
“You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in very sadly from Mexico, and you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful, young woman.”
A woman claiming to be Mollie’s aunt, Billie Jo Calderwood, was the first person in Mollie’s family to ask that the murder victim’s name not be used as a talking point about immigration.
“Please remember, Evil comes in EVERY color.”
Now, a second purported family member of the young woman has stepped into the debate. Samantha Lucas, who claims to be Mollie’s second cousin, responded on Twitter to a conservative think-tank (Turning Point USA) that suggested that “Leftists” will be silent about Mollie’s murder because it was allegedly done by an illegal immigrant. Lucas was not having that.
“Hey, I’m a member of Mollie’s family and we are not so f***ing small-minded that we generalize a whole population based on some bad individuals. Now stop being a f***ing snake and using my cousin’s death as political propaganda. Take her name out of your mouth.”
Mollie Tibbetts’ family speaks out after Trump calls murderer an "illegal alien": "Evil comes in every color" https://t.co/5Qsr7RHhkq pic.twitter.com/ez9oACZCvx
— The Hill (@thehill) August 23, 2018
At this point, a couple of disclaimers need to be made. First, it’s impossible to verify if the women purporting on social media to be Mollie’s aunt and second cousin truly are who they say they are. Second, as of this writing, no one in Mollie’s immediate family – such as her parents – has publicly commented on the relationship between Mollie’s murder and illegal immigration.
Meanwhile, the alleged murderer’s immigration status remains a matter of dispute. Rivera’s lawyer, Allen Richards, claims that his client was in the country legally, working on the farm of the brother of a prominent local Republican. However, The Washington Post claims that Rivera is in the country illegally, having provided fake documents to prove his eligibility to work in the U.S. The Post also claims that his employer failed to properly vet him.
