Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) described September 11, 2001, as the “one of the most horrific terrorist attacks that we have lived through” in a video posted on the 19th anniversary of the attacks, over one year after describing 9/11 as a day “some people did something.”
“I mean, I was 18-years-old when that happened,” Omar said, recalling the tragic day. “I was in a classroom in college and I remember rushing home after being dismissed and getting home and seeing my father in complete horror as he sat in front of that TV.”
She recalled feeling as if “the world was ending.”
“And I remember just feeling like the world was ending. The events of 9/11 were life-changing, life-altering for all of us. This was, I think, one of the most horrific terrorist attacks that we have lived through,” she continued.
“My feeling around it is one of complete horror. None of us are ever going to forget that day and the trauma that we will always have to live with,” Omar added:
Her remarks struck a demonstratively different tone than those she offered during a keynote address at a private fundraiser for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in March 2019. At the time, she urged attendees to “raise hell” and described 9/11 as a day “some people did something.”
“CAIR was founded after 9/11, because they recognize that some people did something, and then all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties,” Omar told attendees.
“You can’t just say that today someone is looking at me strange, that I am going to try to make myself look pleasant. You have to say that person is looking at me strange, I am not comfortable with it. I am going to talk to them and ask them why,” she added:
Omar also told the crowd that President Trump “fuels hate against Muslims” and speaks of those in the Islamic faith “in a way that is dehumanizing, vilifying, and doesn’t understand, or at least makes us want to think that he doesn’t understand.”
Her remarks were the subject of ridicule during last year’s 9/11 anniversary, as one memorial speaker, who was honoring his mother, friends, and coworkers who died, donned a shirt reading, “Some People Did Something” while ripping the Minnesota congresswoman’s callous remarks.
“Some people did something’ said a freshman congresswoman from Minnesota to support and justify the creation of CAIR. Today I am here to respond to you exactly who did what to whom,” he said:
“Madam, objectively speaking, we know who and what was done. There is no uncertainty about that,” he said, questioning her confusion.
“On that day, 19 Islamic terrorists, members of Al Qaeda, killed over 3,000 people and caused billions in dollars of economic damage. Is that clear?” he asked.
“But as to whom? I was attacked. Your relatives and friends were attacked. Our constitutional freedoms were attacked, and our nation’s founding on Judeo-Christian principles were attacked. That’s what some people did. Got that now?” he continued.
He pleaded for Omar, as well as the far-left members of her “Squad,” to “show respect.”