I’ll say it. It shouldn’t have happened, the Laken Riley rape and murder. In this case, the accused killer is an undocumented, 26-year-old Venezuelan, a so-called “illegal.” He should not have been in this country. Reports suggest the Border Patrol actually caught him coming into the country and had to let him go because they didn’t have any remaining detention space.

This poor young woman seemed to have a brilliant future in front of her. She should not be dead. But I’m going to tell you, I don’t understand the conservative focus on this one case outside of the context of a cheap political stunt. Nearly 2,000 women a year are killed by men in America, presumably by Americans. In 2022, more than 133,000 women reported being raped, also by Americans. (One can only guess at the number of unreported rapes.) So, why do we count the horrific events in this one case worse than the events in those, thousands of cases? Because it was “preventable?” “It shouldn’t have happened?”

It should NEVER happen. I imagine a person can say the exact same thing about every one of those women – it shouldn’t have happened – and I KNOW there are usually “warning signs” someone sees before the killings happen. In that sense, they’re ALL preventable. In THIS guy’s case, there was nothing indicating a propensity to such violent behavior. He had sneaked across the border, a misdemeanor. He had been picked up for shoplifting, a misdemeanor. According to the cops, there is no indication that he has a history of violence. Who knew or should have known he would take a sudden leap to rape and murder?

Two things: The suspicion is that her attacker took on more than he expected with her. The accused is not a big guy and she fought back. Apparently, she fought well. The attack escalated. He finally resorted to a weapon of some kind. This was what they call a “crime of opportunity.” He wasn’t planning to kill anyone that day. The other thing is, it should be noted that he hasn’t had his day in court, yet. At this point, he’s only the alleged killer. The cops arrested four other people, later released. I’m not defending the guy, but what if he didn’t do it? What if DNA proves it?

Conservatives, though, recognize an opportunity when they see one. They’re all over this. MTG shoved a ‘Laken Riley’ button at Biden as he was coming into the House chamber at the State of the Union. It’s hard to blame them. The accused killer came into this country in 2022, during the Biden administration, and Riley was murdered in 2024, also Biden’s administration. All of this fits in to their ongoing drumbeat that Biden is weak on the border. Those three facts come together to mean one thing: spotlight on Laken Riley’s murder.

They wrote a bill in the House, ‘The Laken Riley Act.’ It required Federal detainment of undocumented people who commit theft or burglary. That was the part they intended to highlight. It ALSO allowed states to start suing the Federal government over immigration issues. That was the poison pill, the tool the GOP used to ensure votes against it. But just to be on the very safe side, they also peppered the bill with unnecessary political swipes at Joe Biden. In doing so, they turned the nightmare of this woman’s murder into a cheap, political stunt.

To me, it seems disrespectful to the family of young Miss Riley to use her murder as a prop for political trumpery. It ALSO seems disrespectful to the other, thousands of women raped and murdered every year in this country who DON’T get “Say Her Name” legislation centering on the crimes visited on them. Why not? Because their nightmare was brought to them by an American?

There’s another, larger angle to this whole sh*tshow, too. For the last 40+ years, a primary goal of the GOP has been to financially starve the US Federal government into “submission.” The specific quote was, “drown it in a bathtub.” THAT’S why the constant cry of “Tax cuts! Tax cuts! Tax cuts!” This “starving” tactic works. Government services have been cut. Things became less effective. THAT’S THE GOP GOAL, and it includes border protection.

From MY point of view, the GOP got what it wanted. Like so many other government agencies those conservative policies have financially starved, border patrol isn’t as effective as it should be, just as the GOP wanted. I know, that sounds like a possible conspiracy theory. But the bi-partisan, Republican-written border bill the cons have been screaming about, but just shot down because Donny wanted something to run on?

That would have included money for more detention space AND more judges to hear cases faster. That ‘more detention space’ bit was important. Remember, they let this guy go in the first place because they didn’t have any remaining detention space. It’s stuffed full of people waiting to have their cases heard, JUST the thing more judges would have facilitated. It included more money to hire more Border Patrol Agents. But Donny wanted something to run on.

The possibility of another Laken Riley type crime, though, wasn’t enough to convince MAGA to defy Donald Trump. He said, “Kill the bill!” They killed the bill. No, it wouldn’t have helped Laken Riley. But it was a solid, concrete action that might have helped the next, possible Laken, not a dog-and-pony show designed only to “fire up the base.”

I’ll tell you this: I have nothing but sympathy for Laken Riley’s family and I’m sorry as hell the poor woman has been turned into a political football by the GOP. But GOP “outrage” rings hollow, knowing they had a chance to address the problem going forward and settled, instead, on a craven political calculation…