by Evan Stambaugh
Rep. Ilhan Omar was confronted by protesters Thursday night over her support for Ukraine in its defense from Russian invasion.
At a Thursday evening town hall event, a man stood up and accused Omar of failing to take the truly “anti-war” position on the issue.
“You are supposed to be a progressive Democrat. Anti-war. Anti-war!” the protester said, raising his voice. “$80 billion to Ukraine is not anti-war.”
When Omar noted that Congress is helping defend Ukraine from an aggressor, the protester shouted that “Ukraine is killing its own citizens in the Donbass” and implied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was responsible for some of the “mass graves” found in the country.
“There are piles of bodies that are being found in mass graves. There are little children whose lives are being lost,” Omar said in response. “Unless you are someone like me that has been that child, you do not get to tell me what my votes mean and how I get to vote in supporting people.”
“You’re pressing the big red button,” someone in the audience shouted.
Omar called one of the protesters (it’s unclear how many there were) “sad” and “dangerous” after he suggested that America was responsible for the war because it backed NATO’s expansion into Ukraine.
JUST IN: Anti War Protester confronts #SquadMember @IlhanMN on her funding of the Ukrainian War that is leading us into nuclear war. She was part of the cowardly 30 who rescinded the letter calling for diplomatic talks with Russia! pic.twitter.com/Qk7Pmket9C
— Jose Vega — Vote Vega & Sare! (@JosBtrigga) October 28, 2022
A couple minutes prior, Omar fielded a question from an individual wondering why Congress keeps supporting “imperialism” when “health care” and “good infrastructure” remain pressing concerns.
Shortly after the conclusion of the town hall, the congresswoman took to Twitter to accuse the protesters of spreading Russian “disinformation.”
“I am sorry, you all aren’t ‘anti war protesters,’ you are dangerous propagandists who are literally making a mockery of the anti war movement,” Omar tweeted Thursday evening. “I have never had the pleasure of responding to … ridiculous [Russian] internet disinformation in person before. Thank you for the opportunity.”
She continued: “I am amazed at the nerve that some people have to not be upset with the country literally waging war, but at the country defending itself and those helping them do that. I was even told by one of these people tonight, ‘it’s America that started the Russia war,’ seriously wtf.”
I am amazed at the nerve that some people have to not be upset with the country literally waging war, but at the country defending itself and those helping them do that.
I was even told by one of these people tonight, “it’s America that started the Russia war”, seriously wtf.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 28, 2022
A few weeks prior to Russia’s invasion, Omar objected to a Ukrainian defense package, Fox News reports.
“The consequences of flooding Ukraine with half a billion dollars in American weapons, likely not limited to just military-specific equipment but also including small arms and ammo, are unpredictable and likely disastrous,” she said at the time.
Omar has not been the only “Squad” member to get pressured at her town hall by anti-war protesters. A similar incident happened earlier this month when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was confronted at a town hall event in the Bronx borough of New York City.
The protesters called Ocasio-Cortez a “coward” and a “liar” and claimed she is “playing with [American] lives.”
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Evan Stambaugh is a freelance writer who had previously been a sports blogger. He has a BA in theology and an MA in philosophy.
Photo “Ilhan Omar” by Lorie Shaull. CC BY-SA 4.0.
