An elderly Georgia pizza shop owner is running for county commissioner in Athens, the city where Laken Riley was killed by ‘blunt force trauma’.
Sidney Anne Waters, who owns Mama Sid’s Pizza, is running for District 8 commissioner in Athens-Clarke County with the slogan ‘A fresh slice for district 8.’
“I suddenly got a reality check that there are a lot of us in Athens who really didn’t know what our government was doing,” she said Fox on Thursday.
“The day before qualifying ended, I decided to go in and put my name on the ticket,” she continued with a group of supporters behind her in the pizzeria.
The community has been on edge after an illegal Venezuelan immigrant allegedly killed nursing student Riley and ‘severely disfigured’ her body and skull, Waters said.
Georgia pizza shop owner Sidney Anne Waters is running for county commissioner in Athens, the city where Laken Riley was killed by ‘blunt force trauma’
Waters, who owns Mama Sid’s Pizza, is running for District 8 commissioner in Athens-Clarke County with the slogan ‘A fresh slice for District 8.’
The community has been on edge after an illegal Venezuelan immigrant allegedly killed nursing student Riley (pictured) and ‘severely disfigured’ her body and skull, Waters said
‘Everyone is quite worried because we have discovered that our local government is not transparent with us. They have decisions and agreements that the public had no idea about,” Waters said.
‘I don’t really know how familiar our commission was with the 2019 resolution that opened up a lot of sanctuary. We are not a sanctuary city, but we have a sanctuary policy that somewhat controls us.’
Waters is referring to the resolution signed in 2019 by Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz and Commission Secretary Jean Spratlin.
The resolution says the local government ‘welcomes people from all countries and backgrounds and strives to foster a community where individuals and families of all statuses feel safe, are able to thrive and can breathe free’.
It also states: “our immigrant and undocumented neighbors, especially those of Latinx heritage, face daily fear and threats from individuals and institutions like ICE.”
Girtz previously warned ‘against conflating immigration and crime’, arguing that Athens does not technically fall into the category of ‘sanctuary city’.
A sanctuary city limits or refuses to cooperate with the federal government in protecting illegal immigrants, which is in violation of state law.
‘Everyone is quite worried because we have discovered that our local government is not transparent with us. They have decisions and agreements that the public had no idea about,” said Waters (pictured with her husband).
Waters is referring to the resolution signed in 2019 by Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz (pictured) and Commission Secretary Jean Spratlin
Riley, 22, never returned from her run last month and her body was discovered in a field on the Athens campus
Jose Ibarra, 26, is accused of using a mysterious object as a weapon to kill the 22-year-old Augusta University student
Waters said: ‘Mayor Girtz just came out and read that policy one night and signed it. He personally petitioned the US State Department for us to become a refugee resettlement site.
‘No one knew about it, so what does all this mean? How many people have we welcomed into our community and who are they?’
‘When you stand outside and look in and talk to them at various chamber meetings, you don’t think they are listening.’
‘And the way you get them to listen is to become part of them… I want to be part of the commission so that I can at least express my opinion and know that they are being heard.’
Riley, 22, never returned from her run last month and her body was discovered in a field on the Athens campus.
Jose Antonio Ibarra was arrested for his murder and has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, obstructing a 911 call and concealing the death of another.
The 26-year-old crossed into El Paso, Texas in September 2022 but had been released from a detention center due to lack of space, according to NewsNation reporter Ali Bradley.
Police said Riley was killed by blunt force trauma. They say Ibarra dragged her body to a secluded area to hide the death, according to an arrest affidavit seen by CBS News.
Police have said Ibarra, who lived in Athens, did not know Riley, but campus surveillance footage and other technology led them to the migrant.
Ibarra is accused of ‘severely disfiguring Riley’s body by mutilating her skull’ and is also accused of preventing Riley from making a 911 call when he allegedly grabbed her between 6 p.m. 9 and 13 Thursday.
Officials confirmed that Ibarra is not a U.S. citizen and did not know or have any relationship with Riley
Riley, 22, was found dead Thursday afternoon after her roommate reported her missing, saying she hadn’t returned from her run
Republicans including Marjorie Taylor Greene have called for Ibarra to receive the death penalty, saying “deportation is not enough”
Riley’s body was found the same day on campus in a wooded area near Lake Herrick that includes trails popular with runners and hikers.
Republicans including Marjorie Taylor Greene have called for Ibarra to receive the death penalty.
‘Ibarra is an illegal alien and murdered a young woman the age of my own children. Deportation is not enough. He deserves the death penalty,’ the Georgia representative said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
‘You want to break into our country, ILLEGALLY, and murder one of our girls. DEATH PENALTY!’ She added another.
Georgia still has the death penalty, but has not executed anyone since 2020.
A 2020 Texas DOJ report found that, compared to undocumented immigrants, US-born citizens are over twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times as likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over four times as likely more likely to be arrested for drug crimes. arrested for property crimes.