In July 2018, Mollie Tibbetts, a student at the University of Iowa, was reported missing after failing to return home from an evening jogging session in Brooklyn, Iowa. Following an investigation, authorities identified Mexican immigrant Cristhian Bahena Rivera as the prime suspect in the disappearance, and later, in her murder after Tibbetts’ body was found the following month. Not long after, Candace Owens made headlines for her controversial comments on the gruesome murder.
Taking to social media, Owens touched on Tibbetts’ murder, allocating blame to the Democrats for their pro-immigration policies. “Leftists boycotted, screamed, and cried when illegal immigrants were temporarily separated from their parents. What will they do for Mollie Tibbetts? What did they do for Kate Steinle? They will NEVER see their parents again,” she wrote on X.
Owens’ comment was not well-received, with many social media users dubbing her racist and insensitive. Particularly, Sam Lucas, a distant relative of Tibbetts criticized Owens’ tweet while urging her to stop commenting on the murder. “Hey I’m a member of Mollie’s family and we are not so f**king small-minded that we generalize a whole population based on some bad individuals. now stop being a f**king snake and using my cousin’s death as political propaganda. Take her name out of your mouth,” Lucas wrote in a tweet responding to Owens.
