Lawyer Ilhan Omar says State of the Union guest Aliya Rahman was ‘forcibly removed’ and made to stand.
Rep. Ilhan Omar said one of the guests he invited to the State of the Union on Tuesday was arrested and “forcibly removed” from the House gallery – while criticizing the “heavy handed” response by Capitol Police.
Omar (D-Minn.) said software engineer Aliya Rahman, who was dragged from her car while driving to a doctor’s office during an anti-immigration protest in Minnesota last month, was removed from the House gallery after standing “silently” during President Trump’s speech.
“My guest, Aliya Rahman, stood up and remained silent in the garage while the president spoke for a while, during which other guests stood,” said Omar in a statement on Wednesday. As a result, he was forcibly ejected, despite being warned by officials about his injured shoulders and eventually charged with ‘Unlawful Conduct.’
A member of the “squad”, 43, said that “reports indicate that he was treated cruelly until someone intervened to get medical help.”
Capitol Police confirmed that Rahman was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct, as reported by NBC News, but Omar slammed the police’s response — calling it “difficult.”
“A harsh response to a peaceful visitor sends a sad message about the state of our democracy,” she said.
Rahman, who could face up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500 for the misdemeanor, said a sergeant told him the reason he was removed from the State of the Union was that he was standing up.
“There are only two things you can do in the State of the Union, and they sit down and stand up,” he told Democracy Now. I am bound to stand up.”
Rahman said that he was arrested even though he was silent and did not play any pins or buttons that were seen as swelling. Attorney Rashida Tlaib, Omar’s Squaddie, wore a “F–k ICE” pin during the event.
He also said he was arrested even though he was “much quieter” than the closest Republicans.
Rahman, who has a torn rotator cuff, said he was so “physically” restrained that two other guests tried to intervene when he told police about his injuries.
And only when their sergeant entered the back stairs of that building and said, “Wait! We have to get him medical aid and a wheelchair,” did they stop draining me when I said ‘I’m disabled,'” she said.
Omar, who was heard mocking Trump during the Union, also invited Columbia Heights School Board Chairwoman Mary Granlund, 20-year-old Mubashir Hussen and the son of labor rights organizer Eustaquio Orozco Verdusco.
Rahman’s removal from the State of the Union came a month after he was accused of interfering with an immigration enforcement campaign that was underway less than a week after the shooting of Renee Good.
Thousands of officers were sent to Minneapolis as part of Operation Metro Surge — what Homeland Security officials say was the largest immigration enforcement operation ever.
But, the deaths of Renee Good and intensive care nurse Alex Pretti have drawn criticism from government critics.
Earlier this month, border chief Tom Homan said 700 of the 3,000 agents sent to Minnesota would be withdrawn.
By Post cables
