A meme circulating on social media makes a series of misleading allegations about Somalia-born Ilhan Omar serving as Minnesota’s representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, including the false allegation that she was ‘arrested 23 times’. In this article it is claimed that these allegations presented in the meme are false. Opinions presented in the meme fall outside the scope of this article.
The meme has been circulating since at least July 21, 2019, based on the earliest recurrence Reuters could find in public Facebook groups and pages (here, here) and continued in February 2021 (here). “From Jail Cell to Congress” the mother says and continues: “Arrested 23 times? Daughter of Somali terrorist. Committed marriage and immigration fraud. ISIS and Al Queda (sic) sympathizer. Make a mockery of the US government. ‘
The meme contains two images of Omar: a mugshot and a photo of Omar taking the oath on January 3, 2017. The latter is by AP photographer Jim Mone and can be seen here: bit.ly/3arWcmt.
Jeremy Slevin, a spokesman for Omar who was contacted by email by Reuters, called the allegations in this meme ‘false’.
ARREST
In a Minneapolis police report that visited Snopes (here), Omar was once arrested on January 19, 2013 for two charges of crimes: ‘Entering and refusing to leave a hotel on legal claim’ and is in jail in Hennepin County to discuss ‘further prevention’ Criminal conduct. “Reuters has submitted a request, but has not yet had access to the police report.
As reported by the Star Tribune newspaper in Minnesota (here), Omar refused to leave a hotel portal after the visit of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The Star Tribune reports that “the charges were dropped later.” A USA Today report of the visit can be seen here.
Slevin confirmed to Reuters that the cup shot appears in the meme (which can also be seen here ), is authentic and stems from this arrest in 2013.
TRAFFIC INFRINGEMENTS
Reuters found no evidence to substantiate the allegation that Omar was arrested 23 times. She does have 23 traffic registers that can be searched and found here (by selecting Criminal / Traffic / Petty Case Records, by searching the accused Ilhan Abdullahi Omar and date of birth 10/04/1982). It dates from February 2012 to January 2019, but no one led to an arrest (see a screenshot of the records uploaded by Reuters ibb.co/cL500hk).
These include offenses such as ‘parking overtime in a meter zone’, ‘parking in a non-parking zone’ and ‘Failure to display current registration – abandoned plates.’ As outlined here by the Minnesota Department of Investigation, petty offenses do not carry a prison sentence, but do carry a fine of up to $ 300. ” A person arrested only for a minor traffic offense has not been arrested under supervision. ‘
Slevin also confirmed to Reuters that none of Omar’s traffic violations led to an arrest.
MARRIAGE AND IMMIGRATION
In a previous article (here), Reuters addressed allegations, without evidence, that Omar married her brother to help him obtain U.S. citizenship. In 2016, Omar issued a statement in which she explained the timeline of her marriage history and called the rumors ‘unfounded’, ‘false and ridiculous’. (here)
As reported by Business Insider here, there is no hard evidence that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom she legally married in 2009 based on her statement, is (here) her brother or that Omar committed fraud.
Business Insider highlights some strange contradictions and contradictions in her marital history. “
In June 2019, for example, CFB in Minnesota found that Omar ‘filed tax returns stating that she was married to one man [Ahmed Hirsi] when in fact she was married to another [Ahmed Elmi], According to CBS Local Minnesota, “amid an investigation into allegations of misuse of campaign funds.” (here)
Allegations about Omar’s marriage history have also been addressed here by the New York Times and Associated Press.
PARENTS
Reuters found no evidence that Omar’s parents were linked to a terrorist organization. Slevin also confirmed to Reuters that they are not ‘Somali terrorists’.
She is the daughter of Fadhuma Abukar Haji Hussein, who died according to the New York Times (here and here) when Omar was 2, and her father was Nur Omar Mohamed, who passed away on June 16, 2020 due to complications of COVID -19 ( here).
Her family story can be seen on her websites ilhanomar.com/about/ and omar.house.gov/about.
The New York Times reports here and the Washington Post here, Omar’s father, who was a teacher in Somalia, “picked up work with taxis and later got a job at the post office.”
Politifact dismissed the meme earlier here and found that the allegations about her parents were false: ‘We could not find any evidence that Omar’s parents were terrorists or war criminals in Somalia’. Snopes also denied the allegation that Omar’s father was a ‘war criminal’ and found no evidence to substantiate the allegation.
ISIS EN AL QAEDA
Slevin also confirmed to Reuters that the Minnesota representative is not a “sympathizer” of the Islamic State and Al Qaeda, as the meme claims.
These allegations may stem from the misinterpretation of an interview Omar gave in 2013 when she was a community organizer. Further reading on this can be found through the New York Times (here), the Washington Post (here), NBC News (here), PolitiFact (here) and CNN (here).
Other cases involving Omar possibly behind the false notion that he supports ISIS or Al Qaeda can be seen here, here and here. As these articles note, the congresswoman never expressed support for the terrorist groups (examples of her condemnation of ISIS can be seen on Twitter here , en here ).
Reuters has previously unleashed reports that Omar is misleadingly trying to link Al Qaeda with altered (here) or falsely labeled (here) photos.
VERDICT
Untrue. Ilhan Omar was arrested once, in 2013, and she has 23 traffic case records for minor traffic incidents. There is no evidence to suggest that Omar is the daughter of ‘Somali terrorists’. Although there are some inconsistencies about her marital history, there is no evidence that Omar committed ‘immigration or marital fraud’. Although some of her remarks have caused controversy, Omar has never expressed public sympathy or support for Al Qaeda or ISIS as the meme claims.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.