OMM Newsroom
US Representative Ilhan Omar says she can no longer live at her home in Washington, DC, after federal agents searched the property last week, fearing the raid exposed her address. She made the comments in an interview with “MS NOW”, according to BBC World.
“With the death threats that I deal with, it's no longer going to be feasible to be in that house and have my kids,” Omar said.
In her first public interview since the pre-dawn search, Omar said agents from Homeland Security Investigations seized 17 items, including cellphones and notebooks, as part of an investigation. The government has not said what crime she is suspected of; it described the search as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.
Omar said agents began pounding on the doors at about 06:00 EDT (11:00 BST) on 12 October, waking her and her husband. “We were screaming,” she said, describing the incident as “so bizarre”.
She estimated that between 15 and 25 agents surrounded the home, adding that they “conducted themselves in a decent way”. Omar said agents showed her a warrant after she asked to see one.
Omar watched from the couch as agents searched room to room for about five hours. She said they left with 17 items, including several cellphones, notebooks and her husband's camera from the 1960s. Reports also said her personal computers and passport were among the items seized.
The search came after several officials made comments casting doubt on Omar's US citizenship, which she received in 2000 after arriving from Kenya. More than a dozen subpoenas have also been issued to members of her family as part of the investigation.
Omar criticised the investigation again, saying it appeared intended to intimidate her. After the search, she called it “an outrageous abuse of power” and the “weaponisation of federal law enforcement to target political enemies”.
Former President Barack Obama also condemned the federal probe, describing it as “so appalling” in a lengthy statement. The BBC said it contacted the Justice Department for comment after being referred by the Department of Homeland Security.
Omar, who has represented Minnesota since 2018, has repeatedly been targeted by President Donald Trump, who has urged her to “go back” to Somalia. Trump has denied involvement in the investigation, saying it has “nothing to do with me”.
At an Ohio rally in October, Trump referred to the search, saying: “I don't know what they're doing with it, but I can tell you this: she's a disaster.” Omar rejected his response, arguing that “he's got everything to do with it”.
“You know, this goes back to 2019 when he was screaming about the fact that, you know, I, I need to be sent back, I need to be deported,” she said.
