By Carol Ozemhoya | Across Black America
Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich) and Andre Carson (D-Ind.) came together to condemn Republican lawmakers’ inaction after Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) repeated Islamophobic remarks against Omar, reports Huffington Post.
“When a sitting member of Congress calls a colleague a member of the ‘jihad squad’ and falsifies a story to suggest I will blow up the Capitol, it is not just an attack on me but on millions of American Muslims across this country,” Omar said Tuesday at a news conference demanding accountability from Republican House leadership.
In late November, Boebert joked to a crowd about Omar being a suicide bomber, referring to the Muslim lawmaker as the “jihad squad.” And in September, Boebert suggested Omar was a terrorist at another event, saying: “She doesn’t have a backpack, she wasn’t dropping it and running, so we’re good.”
“Condemning this should not be a partisan issue,” Omar said Tuesday. “This is about our basic humanity and fundamental rights of religious freedom enshrined in our Constitution.”
Omar urged Republican Party leaders to “hold their members accountable” and “do something to confront anti-Muslim hatred in its ranks.”
Tlaib also spoke at the news conference, saying: “Sadly, Islamophobia and hate crimes against Muslims are nothing new in our country. And I know that because I’ve seen it.”
Carson added that this was “not about hurt feelings or mean-spirited words; this is about calling out individuals who deliberately incite violence and irresponsibly spread lies and misinformation.”
