Angel Mom Allyson Phillips is blasting “pathetic” President Joe Biden for mispronouncing her daughter Laken Riley‘s name in his State of the Union (SOTU) address on Thursday evening.
Under pressure to acknowledge Laken Riley’s murder, allegedly at the hands of an illegal alien released into the United States by Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the president held up a pin that read “Say Her Name: Laken Riley” — given to him by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
While holding up the pin, Biden said “Lincoln Riley,” mispronouncing the 22-year-old nursing student’s name before downplaying her murder by stating “But how many of thousands of people are being killed by legals?”
In a Facebook comment, Phillips blasted Biden:
U.S. House of RepresentativesBiden does not even KNOW my child’s name — it’s pathetic! If you are going to say her name (even when forced to do so) at least say the right name!
[Emphasis added]
After Biden described Riley’s accused killer as “an illegal,” Democrats like Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Ilham Omar (D-MN), Robert Garcia (D-CA), and Chuy Garcia (D-IL) rushed to the suspect’s defense, saying the term “illegal” should not be used to describe him.
“No human being is illegal,” Omar wrote on Twitter, while Pelosi told CNN, “he should have said undocumented.”
“I wouldn’t have used the word ‘illegal,’ Garcia told MSNBC. “I think the president quickly shifted, he began talking about immigrants right after … that’s not a word that anybody should use to describe anybody.”
On Feb. 22, Laken Riley was found murdered in a wooded area on the University of Georgia campus. Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, had gone for a run that morning, but her roommate called the police when she did not return.
The following day, 26-year-old illegal alien Jose Antonio Ibarra from Venezuela was arrested and charged with kidnapping and murdering Riley.
Investigators said Riley was beaten to death with an object and found with her skull disfigured. Riley also sought to call the police but was stopped by Ibarra.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, Ibarra arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, and was quickly released into the nation’s interior by Biden’s DHS.
Jose Antonio Ibarra (Clarke County Sheriff’s Office)
More than six months before Riley’s murder, Ibarra was arrested in New York City for allegedly injuring a child and violating motor vehicle rules. The city’s sanctuary policy ensured that Ibarra was released from jail instead of being turned over to ICE agents.
Then, in October 2023, Ibarra was arrested in Athens for shoplifting but was not turned over to ICE agents. He failed to appear in court for the charges, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
Ibarra remains in custody in Clarke County, Georgia.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
