Mollie Tibbetts disappeared while jogging in Iowa earlier this summer. In August, authorities found her body and arrested the man accused of murdering her, allegedly because she rebuffed his advances. Normally this story wouldn't make it past state-wide news, but the suspect in custody is an immigrant, and while it's still not clear whether he entered the country legally or not, Donald Trump and his anti-immigrant supporters have run with it, practically drooling over the chance to wring out every drop of political capital they can from the 20-year-old's death.

For their part, Tibbetts' family have been clear that they want no part of that narrative. Various relatives have spoken out online but on Sunday an opinions piece by her father appeared in the Des Moines Register, unequivocally condemning anyone who tries to exploit his family's tragedy for either political purposes or nakedly racist ones, despite their request to let them grieve in peace. He writes:

Sadly, others have ignored our request. They have instead chosen to callously distort and corrupt Mollie’s tragic death to advance a cause she vehemently opposed. I encourage the debate on immigration; there is great merit in its reasonable outcome. But do not appropriate Mollie’s soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist. The act grievously extends the crime that stole Mollie from our family and is, to quote Donald Trump Jr., “heartless" and "despicable.”

Tibbetts calls out Donald Trump Jr. because his piece comes on the heels of another op-ed in the Des Moines Register, one that came out Friday written by none other than Trump Jr. himself. The president's son used it to attack Democrats and the media for not making a bigger deal out of the accused murderer's immigration status—again, despite the fact that there's still no confirmation if he entered the country legally or not.

"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," he wrote, adding, "The Democrats are pushing policies that are a direct existential threat to the lives of innocent Americans."

Trump Jr. shares his father's disdain of real information. Immigrants are dramatically less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens, and as many studies have shown, this includes people who entered the country illegally. But that's not helpful for ginning up support with Trump's white nationalist base, and Tibbetts' story has been successful to that end. Since news of Tibbetts' murder came out, robocalls have been circulating in Iowa claiming that she was killed by an invader from Mexico and calling for America to be an all-white country. So, mission accomplished, Don.