The Minneapolis woman Ilhan Omar took to the State of the Union needs medical attention after being arrested
WASHINGTON – Aliyah Rahman, Minnesota Rep. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who hosted him as his guest at Tuesday’s State of the Union address, needed hospital treatment after being arrested during the speech, Rahman and Omar said.
Rahman stood up silently during President Donald Trump’s speech in which he urged Democrats to restore funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The people around him remained seated. When US Capitol Police approached and asked Rahman to sit down, he refused.
While he was talking to the Capitol Police, the crowd around him applauded, and Rahman tried to explain to the police that this was the reason why he was not forced to leave.
Capitol police officers grabbed Rahman, who was walking with the aid of a cane, and began dragging him toward the exit – a move that was met with protest by one of the other guests in the gallery, who asked police to tone down Rahman’s aggression.
Rahman said in an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! that he was kept in the custody of the Capitol Police and then in the hospital until just before 4 am
“I wasn’t just removed and arrested. I was physically arrested to the extent that two others who were upstairs tried to intervene when the police pulled me by the shoulders after I told them I had a torn trapezium and cartilage tears in both of my shoulders,” he said.
Rahman told Goodman that House’s sergeant told him he was under arrest because “I was standing still. Silent. No buttons, no facial expressions, no gestures, no signs. Not one sound. Standing up.”
“There are only two things you can do at the State of the Union, and they sit down and stand up. All kinds of people were standing all night. Me too,” Rahman said.
He said in an interview that he suffered a torn cuff and cartilage tears after federal agents in Minneapolis dragged him out of his car last month as he drove down the street where an anti-immigrant protest was taking place. Rahman said he has been trying to go to the doctor.
Capitol Police said Rahman was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing Congress.
“All State of the Union tickets clearly state that protesting is prohibited,” the Capitol Police said in a statement. “The guest was told to sit down, but he refused to obey our official orders. It is illegal to disrupt Congress and protest in the Congressional Buildings.”
Omar condemned Rahman’s arrest on Wednesday, demanding “a full explanation of why this arrest took place.”
“A harsh response to a peaceful visitor sends a sad message about the state of our democracy,” he said in a statement.
Omar said Rahman was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment and later booked into Capitol Police headquarters. According to a description provided by Omar’s office, Rahman is a disabled person with autism and traumatic brain injury from Minneapolis.
Minneapolis has been at the center of an intense crackdown by the Trump administration in recent months as part of so-called Operation Metro Surge.
During the operation, federal agents shot several people, killing Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed. Democrats in Congress have called on the Department of Homeland Security to change its immigration enforcement tactics, refusing to vote on a bill that would fund the department and temporarily shut down the government.
