Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) claims her guest at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday was “forcibly removed” from the gallery.
“My guest, Aliya 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 in a social media post. “For that, she was forcibly removed, despite warning officers about her injured shoulders and ultimately charged with ‘Unlawful Conduct.’”
The Democrat congresswoman then said she wants answers regarding the incident.
“Reports indicate she was aggressively handled until someone intervened to secure medical attention. She was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment and later booked at the United States Capitol Police headquarters,” Omar stated on social media. “The heavy-handed response to a peaceful guest sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy. I am calling for a full explanation of why this arrest occurred.”
In January, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers allegedly dragged Rahman, a U.S. citizen, from her car in Minneapolis after she encountered a group of officers and protesters at an intersection, the Associated Press (AP) reported January 15.
A report aired by Fox9 shows Rahman inside her vehicle as officers and protesters stand nearby. She appears to move her vehicle forward several times while the officers were standing next to it. Moments later, officers pull her out of her car.
Although Rahman claimed she was on her way to a medical appointment, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused her of being an agitator who “ignored multiple commands by an officer to move her vehicle away from the scene.”
In a social media post on February 6, ICE said, “As shown in our video, Aliya Rahman clearly had enough room to move herself and her vehicle out of the way. Officers even walked away from her vehicle, thinking she was going to leave the scene. Instead, she remained at the location, continued to impede our officers, and found out the hard way.”
According to the New America website, Rahman worked with the group’s “Open Technology Institute on body-worn camera policy and workforce development surrounding community fiber expansion.”
“Aliya served formerly as Program Director at Code for Progress, where she led the recruitment, in-residence training, and job placement of community organizers of color into full-time developer positions,” the site reads. “She is also is the former Field Director of Equality Ohio, where she built a statewide field program focused on bridging gaps between racial justice organizers, LGBT rights groups, and labor.”
Active funding for New America comes from Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation, among other sources, per its website.
