September 2, 2018

Mollie Tibbetts’ Father Calls on People to Stop Using Her Death to Promote Ideas She “Vehemently Opposed”

“Please leave us out of your debate. Allow us to grieve in privacy and with dignity.”

A poster for missing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts hangs in the window of a local business in Iowa. Tibbets was found dead last month. Charlie Neibergall/AP

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The father of Mollie Tibbetts is calling on politicians and pundits to stop using his daughter’s death to advance a cause she “vehemently opposed.”

In a column published Saturday by the Des Moines Register, Rob Tibbetts wrote that, while there is room for debate about immigration, “do not appropriate Mollie’s soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist.”

The person who is accused of taking Mollie’s life is no more a reflection of the Hispanic community as white supremacists are of all white people. To suggest otherwise is a lie. Justice in my America is blind. This person will receive a fair trial, as it should be. If convicted, he will face the consequences society has set. Beyond that, he deserves no more attention.

To the Hispanic community, my family stands with you and offers its heartfelt apology. That you’ve been beset by the circumstances of Mollie’s death is wrong. We treasure the contribution you bring to the American tapestry in all its color and melody. And yes, we love your food.

Tibbetts, a 20-year-old psychology student at the University of Iowa, disappeared on July 18 after going for a run in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. On July 20, Cristhian Rivera, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, confessed to killing Tibbetts and led police to her body the next day.

President Donald Trump and others on the right quickly seized on Mollie Tibbetts’ death as a way to advance their immigration agenda. One day after her body was found, Trump said that she had been “permanently separated” and used her murder as a justification for building his border wall. On Friday, Donald Trump Jr. blamed Tibbetts’ murder on Democrats and their “radical open-borders agenda” in his own Des Moines Register column. 

Rob Tibbetts rejected their rhetoric on Saturday:

Make no mistake, Mollie was my daughter and my best friend. At her eulogy, I said Mollie was nobody’s victim. Nor is she a pawn in others’ debate. She may not be able to speak for herself, but I can and will. 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.

Read the whole thing.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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