Rob Tibbetts and daughter Mollie, an Iowa college student who was murdered. Rob Tibbetts wrote in an opinion piece against using his daughter’s death in support of anti-immigrant “views she believed were profoundly racist”. Photo: Tibbets family
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https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2162509/murdered-mollie-tibbetts-father-shes-not-pawn United States & Canada
Murdered Mollie Tibbetts’ father: she’s not a pawn to promote ‘profoundly racist’ anti-immigrant views
Rob Tibbetts singled out comments by Donald Trump Jnr, after the arrest of a Mexican for his Mollie’s killing sparked calls for a US immigration overhaul
In this August 21 file photo, a poster of murdered University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts hangs in the window of a local business in Brooklyn, Iowa. Photo: AP
The father of slain Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts in an opinion piece spoke out against using his daughter’s death in support of “views she believed were profoundly racist”, a call that comes after President Donald Trump and others seized on the suspected killer’s immigration status to argue for changes in US immigration laws.
Authorities have said the University of Iowa student was abducted while she was out for an evening run in Brooklyn, Iowa, on July 18. The man charged in her death, 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is a Mexican suspected of being in the US illegally. Trump and other politicians quickly noted that element of the case and called for changes to immigration law.
Do not appropriate Mollie’s soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist
Rob Tibbetts wrote in the opinion piece published online by The Des Moines Register on Saturday that while he supports debate on immigration, some politicians and pundits went too far in using his daughter’s death to promote political agendas. He said his stepdaughter is Latina and argued that the suspected killer “is no more a reflection of the Hispanic community as white supremacists are of all white people.”
“Do not appropriate Mollie’s soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist,” he wrote. “The act grievously extends the crime that stole Mollie from our family and is, to quote Donald Trump Jnr, ‘heartless’ and ‘despicable’.”
The quote comes from a Friday opinion piece by Trump Jnr that criticised the media and Democrats for not playing up the suspect’s immigration status.
“Despite what some Democrats may wish in the depths of their hearts, Mollie was murdered by an illegal alien and her murder would never have happened if we policed our southern border properly,” the president’s son wrote. 
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, has been charged with the murder of Mollie Tibbetts. Photo: TNS
Recorded phone calls citing Mollie Tibbetts’ death in a push for white supremacist views began Tuesday, just days after her funeral. The robocalls cited comments Rob Tibbetts made in defence of Latinos during her funeral.
The calls question whether his daughter would feel the same if she were still alive and describe Rivera as “an invader from Mexico.”
“She may not be able to speak for herself, but I can and will,” her father wrote in the opinion piece. “Please leave us out of your debate. Allow us to grieve in privacy and with dignity. At long last, show some decency. On behalf of my family and Mollie’s memory, I’m imploring you to stop.”