Mollie Tibbetts' Cousin Unleashing Fury at 'Despicable' Comments on Twitter: 'Take Her Name out of Your Mouth'

In the days since Mollie Tibbetts' body was found, her death has become a talking point for [...]

By Libby Birk

In the days since Mollie Tibbetts' body was found, her death has become a talking point for political discourse surrounding the immigration debate. Now, one of her distant relatives has gone viral for pushing back against the politicization of her death.

After a Mexican immigrant, Cristhian Rivera, was charged with Tibbetts' murder, conservative political figures, including President Donald Trump and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, have pointed to Tibbetts' slaying as an example of the dangers posed by immigrants who are in the country illegally. But Sam Lucas, a second cousin of the Iowa college student, argued against the logic earlier this week.

In a tweet from political commentator Candace Owens, Owens wondered what "leftists" who "boycotted, screamed, and cried when illegal immigrants were temporarily separated from their parents" would do about Tibbetts' death. Lucas responded in a rage.

"hey i'm a member of mollie's family and we are not so f—ing small-minded that we generalize a whole population based on some bad individuals. now stop being a f—ing snake and using my cousins death as political propaganda. take her name out of your mouth," Lucas responded to Owens.

She added, "and fyi @RealCandaceO, my whole family is hurting right now and you're not helping. you're despicable and this is so far from the loving and kind soul that mollie was. my prayers go out to you in hopes that maybe you'll become a better person. not hedging my bets tho."

Owens responded directly on Twitter, "I genuinely wish you healing, closure, and love. What happened to your second cousin is unspeakably [terrible.] I am not your enemy and am somewhat confused by your sentiments. God speed."

Later, Lucas clarified that she is a second cousin of Tibbetts and that the entire family has been grieving together via a Facebook page. "i was only saying we should be able to grieve without politics," she wrote.

Lucas, who said she was related to Tibbetts through great-grandparents, wasn't close to her, nor was she looking to start a fight. She said she just simply didn't agree with the politicization of her distant cousin's murder.

She added that she doesn't "speak for the entire family" and that she "only said this because i want all family members to be able to grieve in peace. that's literally all i meant."

Lucas, a recent University of Missouri graduate, told The Washington Post that she felt driven to respond to Owens' argument.

"I was just like, 'Holy cow, my family just lost a member and this is the immediate response,' " Lucas told the Post on Wednesday, adding that she thought the reactions were impersonal and disrespectful.

Lucas also added that she wants it known that she still would have spoken out, even if the comments had been coming from the left and not the right.

"I wanted to protect my family from this extra grief of politics," Lucas said. "Even if it was coming from the other side, on some other issue that connected somehow to my cousin, I'd say the same thing."

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