Rep. Ilhan Omar said that one of the guests she invited to the State of the Union on Tuesday was arrested and “forcibly removed” from the House gallery — as she slammed the “heavy-handed” Capitol police response.
Omar (D-Minn.) claimed software engineer Aliya Rahman, who was dragged out of her vehicle while driving to a doctor’s appointment during a Minnesota anti-immigration protest last month, was hauled out of the House gallery after standing up “silently” during President Trump’s address.
“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 said in a statement on Wednesday. For that, she was forcibly removed, despite warning officers about her injured shoulders and ultimately charged with ‘Unlawful Conduct.’
The “Squad” member, 43, said “reports indicate she was aggressively handled until someone intervened to secure medical attention.”
Capitol Police confirmed Rahman was arrested on an unlawful conduct charge, as reported by NBC News, but Omar blasted the police response – branding it “heavy-handed.”
“The heavy-handed response to a peaceful guest sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy,” she said.
Rahman, who could face up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $500 for the misdemeanor, claimed the sergeant-at-arms told her the reason she was being hauled out of the State of the Union was that she was standing up.
“There are only two things you can do at the State of the Union, and they are sit down and stand up,” she told Democracy Now. I was arrested for standing up.”
Rahman said she was arrested despite the fact that she was quiet and not sporting any pins or buttons that could be seen as inflammatory. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Omar’s Squaddie, wore “F–k ICE” pin during the event.
She also claimed she was arrested despite being “much quieter” than Republicans nearby.
Rahman, who has a torn rotator cuff, claimed she was arrested “so physically” that two other guests tried to intervene when she told cops about her injuries.
“And only when their own sergeant intervened in a back stairwell of that building to say, “Stop! We need to get her medical care and a wheelchair,” did they stop tugging on me while again I was saying ‘disabled,’” she said.
Omar, who was heard heckling Trump during the State of the Union, also invited Chair of the Columbia Heights School Board Mary Granlund, 20-year-old Mubashir Hussen and the son of workers’ rights organizer Eustaquio Orozco Verdusco.
Rahman’s removal from the State of the Union came just over a month after she allegedly interrupted an immigration enforcement operation that was taking place less than a week after Renee Good was shot.
Thousands of officers were sent to Minneapolis as part of Operation Metro Surge – which Homeland Security officials claimed was the largest immigration enforcement operation ever.
But, the deaths of Renee Good and intensive care nurse Alex Pretti sparked condemnation by the government’s critics.
Earlier this month, border czar Tom Homan said 700 of the approximately 3,000 federal agents sent to Minnesota would be withdrawn.
With Post wires
