Freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar under fire for 9/11 comments
CAIR-Florida chief executive director Hassan Shibly on Rep. Omar's controversial 9/11 remarks.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Sunday night she's received an influx of death threats since President Trump tweeted a video that combined comments from the congresswoman — which critics said were dismissive of the Sept. 11 attacks — with footage from Ground Zero.
"I have experienced an increase in direct threats on my life—many directly referencing or replying to the President's video," Omar tweeted in a statement. "I thank the Capitol Police, the FBI, the House Sergeant at Arms, and the Speaker of the House for their attention to these threats."
In her statement, Omar continued: "Violent crimes and other acts of hate by right-wing extremists and white nationalists are on the ride in this country and around the world. We can no longer ignore that they are being encouraged by the occupant of the highest office in the land."
PELOSI MOVES TO ENSURE ILHAN OMAR'S SAFETY, CALLS FOR TRUMP TO TAKE DOWN VIDEO
The president tweeted the video out last Friday. It included a snippet from a recent speech Omar gave to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). She had said, in her defense of the organization, that CAIR was founded after Sept. 11, 2001 "because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties." CAIR had been formed in 1994.
The video also included news footage of the hijacked planes hitting the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan. The video concluded with: "September 11, 2001 — we remember."
"Counties that hosted a 2016 Trump rally saw a 226 percent increase when cities host Trump rallies," Omar said, apparently citing Washington Post research.
Omar said "this is particularly concerning" because Trump is scheduled to visit Minnesota on Monday. The White House said the president will take part in a roundtable discussion on tax reform and the economy.
"Violent rhetoric and all forms of hate speech have no place in our society, much less from our country's Commander in Chief," the freshman congresswoman also said. "We are all Americans. This is endangering lives. It has to stop."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the video, and on Sunday announced that to ensure Omar's safety, she had spoken with congressional authorities after Trump’s tweet "to ensure that Capitol Police are conducting a security assessment to safeguard Congresswoman Omar, her family and her staff."
"They will continue to monitor and address the threats she faces," the speaker said. She called on Trump to take down the video and discourage such behavior.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders vowed that the president would "continue to call out" Omar, whom Sanders charged unabashedly "continues to make anti-Semitic comments over and over again."
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"Certainly the president is wishing no ill will and certainly not violence towards anyone, but the president is absolutely and should be calling out the congresswoman for her not only one time but history of anti-Semitic comments," Sanders said.
"The bigger question is, why aren’t Democrats doing the same thing? It’s absolutely abhorrent the comments that she continues to make and has made and they look the other way."
Fox News' David Aaro, Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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