Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ignored staffers’ pleas to finish a town hall early and get a medical test Tuesday after a person rushed the rostrum and sprayed a substance on the Democratic congresswoman.
Omar stated after the town hall ended that she has “survived war” and that she is “definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think that they can throw at me because I’m built that way.”
The dramatic second punctuated a high-profile public look for a progressive lawmaker who has been the topic of Republican assaults and scrutiny, as President Donald Trump’s administration focuses its consideration on Minneapolis, town she represents.
Omar condemned federal immigration brokers’ “terrorizing” ways and “reckless and lawless” actions, as she informed attendees that the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities is antithetical to “the America we love.”
She additionally known as for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s abolition and stated Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ought to resign or be impeached. And she praised how Minneapolis has responded to immigration brokers’ presence and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
“Minnesotans are showing up for one another in ways that people didn’t expect. We are showing the country and the world what real solitary looks like. And we should be goddamn proud of ourselves,” she stated.
Long a goal of Republicans, Omar is now the topic of investigations by Trump’s Justice Department and the House Oversight Committee, after each Trump and the committee’s chairman, Kentucky Rep. James Comer, stated this week they had been probing her funds.
Video: Man sprays unknown substance towards Rep. Ilhan Omar
Omar, 43, is a Somali-born refugee whose household immigrated to the United States when she was 12. She was first elected to the state legislature in 2016 and turned one of many first Muslim-American girls elected to Congress in 2018, when she received a House seat representing a lot of the overwhelmingly Democratic metropolis of Minneapolis.
She has been a frequent goal of political assaults and at occasions racist smears by Republicans. She has additionally confronted warmth from some Democrats who level to her criticism of Israel — particularly in 2021, when she appeared to equate “atrocities” by the United States and Israel to these of Hamas and the Taliban, as she known as in a social media put up for “the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.”
In 2023, the Republican-controlled House voted to take away Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee. In 2025, a push to censure Omar and take away her from two committees over her feedback about conservative political commentator and activist Charlie Kirk within the wake of his killing failed by only one vote, after 4 Republicans joined all Democrats in rejecting the trouble.
Trump has repeatedly stated Omar must be impeached, jailed or deported to Somalia — regardless of her changing into a US citizen in 2000.
Omar stated on the town hall she carries her passport together with her always.
“I know people talk about me and Somalia. I don’t know any home the way I know this home,” she stated, referring to the United States. “And so I do feel strong sentiments toward immigrants that find home in the United States.”
Omar stated that different immigrants are traumatized by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Omar’s private funds have come underneath scrutiny after her monetary disclosure filed final yr confirmed her husband has stakes in a enterprise capital agency and vineyard price between $6 million and $30 million.
The New York Times reported Monday that in 2024, throughout Joe Biden’s presidency, the Justice Department opened an investigation into Omar’s funds, her marketing campaign spending and her interplay with a international citizen, however that probe stalled due to an absence of proof.
Trump on Monday stated the Justice Department is investigating Omar, claiming in a Truth Social put up that she “left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars.” It was not clear what foundation Trump had for citing that quantity.
Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee has begun investigating the funds of Omar and her husband as a part of the panel’s broader probe into fraud allegations in Minnesota, a supply accustomed to the probe informed NCS. Republicans on Capitol Hill are investigating whether or not her husband’s funds are tied to the fraud allegations at Somali-run childcare facilities within the state.
Typically, the House Ethics Committee investigates members of Congress, however for the reason that enterprise is in her husband’s title, Comer, the House Oversight Committee’s chairman, has stated he could make it part of his committee work. He stated Omar and her husband will get their due course of.
“The American people are questioning how Rep. Omar and her spouse accumulated millions of dollars in wealth in such a short time span. The House Oversight Committee is going to look into this matter to provide transparency to the American people,” Comer stated in a press release.
The panel has not but reached out to Omar or her partner, the supply added. NCS has reached out to Omar’s workplace and the Ethics Committee for remark.
Omar didn’t instantly deal with the scrutiny of her funds in Tuesday night time’s town hall.
On X, Omar responded to Trump’s feedback by saying: “Sorry, Trump, your support is collapsing and you’re panicking.”
“Right on cue, you’re deflecting from your failures with lies and conspiracy theories about me. Years of ‘investigations’ have found nothing,” she wrote. “Get your goons out of Minnesota.”