Don’t politicise girl’s murder, says family
RELATIVES of a student murdered in Iowa have called for her death not to be a talking point for US president Donald Trump who blamed the crime on “weak” immigration laws.
The body of Mollie Tibbetts, 20, was found in a cornfield last month, 34 days after she vanished while out jogging.
Cristhian Rivera, 24, has been arrested and charged with murder, and appeared in court on Wednesday.
He is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who worked at an Iowa dairy farm using a fake identity card to pass employment checks and collect his wages, according to police.
Mr Trump said the case showed the need for the US to build a wall on its southern border with Mexico.
But Billie Jo Calderwood, Miss Tibbett’s aunt, said: “I don’t want Molly’s memory to get lost amongst politics.
“It’s not about race, it’s about people joining together to do good.”
Samantha Lucas, her cousin, said she didn’t want the case to be part of a political discussion.
She said Miss Tibbetts “would not want this to be used as fuel against undocumented immigrants”.
Both relatives emphasised they were not speaking on behalf of the entire
Tibbetts family.
In a video released on Twitter, Mr Trump urged voters in the midterm Congressional elections in November to vote for Republican candidates in order to secure funding for the border wall. He said: “Mollie Tibbetts was an incredible young woman, who is now permanently separated from her family. A person came in from Mexico, illegally, and killed her. We need the wall.
“We need our immigration laws. We need our border laws changed. We need Republicans to do it because the Democrats won’t do it.
“This is one instance of many. We have tremendous crime trying to come through the borders. Nobody has laws like the United States – they are strictly pathetic. The wall is being built.”
He added: “To the family of Mollie Tibbetts all I can say is God bless you.”