Laken Riley's murder is national news and Preston Lord's killing isn't. Why?

You may not want to admit it, but you know why the murder of 16-year-old Arizona high school student Preston Lord is not a national story, as is the murder in Georgia of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley.

It is not because of who the victim was. No. It is because of who is accused of the killing.

The seven young men arrested last week in connection with Lord’s death are from the suburbs. They grew up in American neighborhoods, going to American schools in communities that pride themselves with extolling American values.

The man accused of murdering Riley last month is an undocumented Venezuelan migrant.

That one thing makes all the difference these days. At least to some people.

We are not talking about values, or justice, but about politics

As if the murder of an American is worse because it was committed by someone who is not a citizen.

When, if you think about it, the opposite should be true. It should be worse that someone who grew up here, with all we have to offer and all the opportunities that exist for an American, would take someone’s life.

But we are not talking about actual values, or justice, are we?

We’re talking about politics.

And in that grotesquely crass arena the life of one young murdered American can be made to seem more valuable than the life of another young murdered American.

Is there anything worse than that?

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Migrants are less likely to commit crimes than Americans are

The homicide rate in the United States has fallen nearly 13% in the past year, but there still were close to 19,000 killings.

I’d guess that the families of each and every one of those who were lost feel the same anguish as the families of Preston Lord and Laken Riley.

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Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., invited Riley’s parents to the State of the Union address last week “to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime.”

Her mourning parents declined the offer.

The terrible way that politics victimizes victims

Like all Republicans, the congressman was simply mimicking Donald Trump, who said recently, “In New York, what’s happening with crime is it’s through the roof, and it’s called ‘migrant.’ ”

Actual studies done on the subject, both nationally and in big cities, consistently show that is not true. They show that migrants are far less likely to commit crimes or be convicted of acts of violence than native-born Americans.

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This does not matter to Trump, however, so it doesn’t matter to the Republicans under his thumb.

Riley’s death is less a tragedy to MAGA politicians than it is an opportunity. A way to score political points.

Laken Riley, Preston Lord and the thousands of others killed last year were victims.

Unlike most of the others, however, she is being victimized again.

EJ Montini is a columnist at The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com, where this column first published. Reach Montini at [email protected]

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GOP uses Laken Riley's death to score on immigration. It's not justice