Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar says she and her family will leave their Washington, DC, home after federal agents searched it before dawn last week, exposing the address at a time when she says she already faces death threats, according to BBC News.
Speaking in her first interview since the search, Omar told MS NOW that Homeland Security Investigations agents arrived at about 06:00 on 12 October, pounding on the front and back doors. She said she and her husband were asleep and initially feared there had been a fire.
“It obviously did freak all of us out,” she said.
Omar estimated that between 15 and 25 agents surrounded the house. She said they presented a warrant after she asked for one, then searched the property for roughly five hours. Agents took 17 items, including mobile phones, notebooks, and a vintage camera belonging to her husband. She described the agents as “intrusive but polite,” but said the raid left her family shaken.
The Justice Department has not accused Omar of a crime. It said only that the search was part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. Reports say investigators are examining possible fraud in immigration paperwork connected to Omar’s family, and that more than a dozen subpoenas have been issued to relatives. Omar became a US citizen in 2000 after arriving from Kenya.
The congresswoman said the public attention generated by the raid has made the house unsafe for her children. “It’s no longer going to be feasible to be in that house and have my kids,” she said.
Omar sharply criticised the investigation as an attempt at intimidation. She called it “an outrageous abuse of power” and accused the government of using federal law enforcement against political opponents.
President Donald Trump has denied involvement, saying the inquiry has “nothing to do with me.” But Omar rejected that claim, pointing to his long standing attacks on her and repeated suggestions that she should “go back” to Somalia.
Former President Barack Obama also condemned the probe, calling it “so appalling.” No charges have been announced.
