Georgia’s biggest and most influential newspaper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is facing backlash for calling the illegal migrant charged in the death of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus an ‘Athens man.”
The campus is in the Georgia’s city of Athens.
The backlash is largely on social media and is being led by conservative thought leaders.
“A 26-year-old Athens man has been charged with murder in the death of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus,” reads the post Friday on X by the newspaper that links to a news story about the arrest of Jose Antonio Ibarra in connection to the death of the university nursing student Laken Riley, who was killed while out for a run. She was found dead Thursday.
Several news outlets report the person charged in connection with the crime, Jose Antonio Ibarra, is an illegal alien from Venezuela.
Ibarra, 26, is not a U.S. citizen but lives in the Athens area.
“ILLEGAL ALIEN from Venezuela that the Biden admin let in our country. NOT ‘Athens man,’” Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X.
Fox News Channel contributor Joe Concha posted: “This Athens man’ entered the country illegally from Venezuela, AJC. Based on the attention this post is getting, you’re really going to want to change this portrayal.”
