An email exchange between the Athens, Georgia, mayor and the Athens-Clarke County sheriff shortly after the murder of Laken Riley showed the officials scrambling to defend the county’s policies on detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The email thread obtained through the Georgia Open Records Act and revealed by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) earlier this week shows Athens Democratic Mayor Kelly Girtz and Sheriff John Williams discussing the county’s policy that does not honor detainer requests from ICE. Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student, was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant while she was on a run near the university’s campus in February.
Two days after Riley’s brutal murder, Sheriff Williams reached out to the mayor, seeking clarification on whether the county “embraces being considered a sanctuary,” adding that he will “do…
