Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) announced her guest for the State of the Union was arrested Tuesday on “Unlawful Conduct” charges.
Omar wrote on X her constituent, Aliya Rahman, was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police for standing during President Donald Trump’s address, per The Hill.
“… Rahman, stood up silently in the gallery during the president’s speech for a short period of time, part of which other guests were also standing,” Omar wrote. “For that, she was forcibly removed, despite warning officers about her injured shoulders and ultimately charged with ‘Unlawful Conduct.’”
“Reports indicate she was aggressively handled until someone intervened to secure medical attention,” Omar continued in the post. “She was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment and later booked at the United States Capitol Police headquarters.”
“The heavy-handed response to a peaceful guest sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy,” Omar continued. “I am calling for a full explanation of why this arrest occurred.”
Rahman, a Bangladeshi American, was stopped by Department of Homeland Security agents in Minneapolis in January when she was dragged out of her vehicle.
Rahman said she was injured then.
In an interview with MS NOW ahead of the SOTU, Rahman said it’s “really challenging” to not know the names of the agents involved in the incident.
“But honestly the thing that I’m far more concerned about than myself is that this is an ongoing fear and threat for people around this country,” Rahman said. “What happened to me is absolutely not new in the history of this country, and we have not seen accountability that gives me any reason to believe this won’t be done to somebody else, so that’s what I’m thinking about today.”
Omar heckled the president as he made comments about Somali immigrants during Tuesday’s address.
She could be heard calling Trump a “liar” as the president repeated claims about the community’s involvement in a widespread social services fraud scheme in her home state.
The representative said her actions were “unavoidable” in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday.
“The president talked about protecting Americans, and I just had to remind him that his administration was responsible for killing two of my constituents,” Omar said, referencing the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by DHS officials in Minneapolis last month.
