Trump exploits Ruby Garcia's death to portray immigrants as “animals”

Good morning! There are only 207 days left until the election, and today we are not talking about abortion – even if everyone is talking about it.

“Democrats say: 'Please don't call them animals. They're human beings.' I said: No, they are not human. They are not human. “They are animals.”

That was Trump's speech last week in Grand Rapids, Michigan, about immigrants. His speech made headlines not because of this racist statement, but because of a lie he told on stage: that he spoke with Ruby Garcia's family.

Mavi Garcia, her younger sister, told the media that this is not true. It was a vulgar move for Trump to lie about speaking to the victim's immediate family, but his dehumanization of immigrants as violent predators is even more troubling.

We'll look into why. But first, the truth about Robbie Garcia.

Angry man, illegal gun

On March 22, Garcia was in the passenger seat of her red Mazda. Her boyfriend, Brandon Ortiz Feit, was driving when they got into an argument.

Ortiz-Fite allegedly pulled out an illegally purchased 9mm handgun and shot Garcia several times in the head, according to court records. Before pulling Garcia from the car and leaving her on the side of the highway, he told authorities that he shot her again because he thought she was still alive.

While it is true that Ortiz-Vite is in the country illegally, his situation is not exactly what Trump suggested. Ortiz-Fite was a “Dreamer” who was brought across the border as a child and given access to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He apparently eventually lost that status and was deported after multiple arrests for non-violent crimes. He returned to the city where he grew up after sneaking across the border.

After Garcia was killed, Ortiz-Vitt somehow ended up at a church 40 miles away, where the priest allowed him to spend the night. The next day, she invited him to Palm Sunday Mass. Somewhere in the middle of the tirade, Ortiz-Fite went to the bathroom, called 911 and confessed. The police arrested him outside the church.

What Ortiz-Fayette allegedly admitted to was brutal cruelty that will haunt the Garcia family forever. Nothing I say justifies his actions. But Ortiz Viet does not represent an alternative for all immigrants, and we have no reason yet to believe that his immigration status motivated his actions.

Three rubies every day

Sisters and brothers, this is not a crisis of hordes at the border. It is a crisis of violent men, one that we do not take seriously, despite its deadly seriousness.

And here's the absolute truth about Garcia: Ruby's love of plants and travel never came close to her soulful smile that lit up the room or infectious laugh.

That's from her obituary. Robbie was buried on 29 March. God protect her, because we didn't.

Trump invades Michigan

Michigan, as you know, is a battleground state. In 2020, Joe Biden won it by only 154,000 votes.

So every vote matters. But not every murder does that.

This Michigander is in prison after his wife died. These five Wolverines are accused of keeping a woman chained to a post in the basement for a month before killing her. This good man was just convicted of murdering a teenager, then killing his girlfriend to keep her quiet.

Of the many recent deadly atrocities in Michigan, only Garcia's crime fits Trump's political agenda.

It embodies the fear that “hordes” of immigrants pose a threat to “real” Americans, especially women.

It also plays into the conspiracy that there is an elite force (Democrats, lizards, Hollywood, Biden, all of the above) bringing these evil immigrants to the United States so they can vote illegally in between committing violent crimes.

Trump's exploitation of Garcia's death is not entirely new, merely an improvement on a tactic he used in his 2016 campaign with the killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco.

Steinle was shot by a Mexican man who was in the United States illegally, and who minutes earlier had found the stolen gun of a Bureau of Land Management officer. He accidentally fired it when he picked it up, and the single bullet hit Steinle in the back.

Trump has used the issue to attack sanctuary cities and call for the building of his big, beautiful wall, but he hasn't quite sharpened his terrorist message.

Now, along with Garcia's murder, he was stumbling upon the tragic killing of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was allegedly killed by a Venezuelan man in the country illegally in what authorities are calling a homicide. an opportunity.

Trump has already met with the Riley family. But as with the Garcia family, Riley's parents want her to be remembered as the smart, kind and beautiful woman she was. Not politics.

“It makes me angry,” her father told NBC News. “She should be raised for the person she is.”

But as another tight race enters its final months, Trump needs more than just legions. Even hordes vote illegally.

With Robbie Garcia and Laken Reilly, he reignites the urgency of an already volatile issue by adding a tried-and-true concern: They're not just coming — they're coming for the women!

What should you read?

What to read: Trump allies have a plan to hurt Biden's chances: raise the bar for outside candidates

The California Insider: How a Crypto Pioneer Lost $1 Million Over Gavin Newsom's Recall

Los Angeles Times Special: California's housing crisis hits Nevada hard. Could this help Trump win a decisive state?

stay golden,
Anita Chhabria

Note: Send help!

This is Meb, the newest member of my family. He's a munchkin with different abilities who was found on the mean streets of Stockton with his umbilical cord still attached.

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Meep the Cat, Sacramento, April 9, 2024.

(Anita Chhabria/Los Angeles Times)

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