Minnesota Lawmaker Says DC Cab Driver Targeted Her With Islamophobic Threats

Ilhan Omar, who is running for State Representative in District 60-B, speaks during a news conference at Abubakar Islamic Center in Minneapolis, Monday, May 2, 2016. A senior Transportation Security Administration ma... Ilhan Omar, who is running for State Representative in District 60-B, speaks during a news conference at Abubakar Islamic Center in Minneapolis, Monday, May 2, 2016. A senior Transportation Security Administration manager at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has testified that he received pressure to profile Somali imams and community members visiting his office. (Leila Navidi/The Star Tribune via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES LOCAL TELEVISION MORE LESS
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A female Somali-American state representative-elect from Minnesota was subjected to Islamophobic and sexist threats during a visit to Washington, D.C., this week, she wrote in a Wednesday Facebook post.

Ilhan Omar, elected to represent Minneapolis, wrote that she visited the White House on Tuesday for a policy training session with Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. After the session wrapped, she got into a cab to her hotel. According to Omar, the driver then subjected her “to the most hateful, derogatory, islamophobic, sexist taunts and threats I have ever experienced.”

She said he called her “ISIS” and threatened to take off her hijab. Fearing for her safety, Omar said she rushed out of the taxi.

In response to a well-wisher on her Facebook page, Omar said that she planned to report the incident once she returned to Minneapolis. She said she didn’t feel safe enough to do so in D.C. because the cab driver knew the hotel where she was staying.

The reply didn’t specify if she planned to file a report with police or with the cab company.

Omar will represent the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota’s House of Representatives. She is the first Somali-American Muslim woman elected to public office.

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