Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) told attendees at a Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR) event in Los Angeles to “raise hell” against discrimination Saturday, according to the Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
“I say raise hell, make people uncomfortable,” Omar said, according to the publication. “Because here’s the truth. For far too long, we have lived with the discomfort of living as second class citizens and I’m tired of it.”
{mosads}“Muslims are told that we should not bother anyone, not make any kind of noise, be a good Muslim,” Omar said, according to the publication. “But no matter how much we have tried to be the best neighbor, people have always worked on finding a way to not allow for every single civil liberty to be extended to us.”
Omar is one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, along with fellow freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
At least 1,000 protesters gathered outside the speech, carrying Trump paraphernalia, Israeli and American flags and signs juxtaposing Omar with a swastika, according to the Press-Enterprise.
Omar has attracted controversy in recent months over her criticism of pro-Israel lobbying groups and her suggestion that they promote allegiance to a foreign country, as well as a since-deleted tweet saying politicians’ support of Israel was “all about the Benjamins,” which critics said invoked anti-Semitic stereotypes of “dual loyalty” to America and Israel.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while not naming Omar, lamented “anti-Semitic language … even in the great halls of our own Capitol” last week, while the same weekend as Omar’s speech, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference “when someone accuses American supporters of Israel of dual loyalty, I say: Accuse me.”