Ilhan Omar says 'bizarre' pre-dawn raid on her home is forcing her to move out - BBC

Omar says the home is no longer safe

Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota says she can no longer live in her Washington, DC, home after federal agents searched it, according to the BBC. She worries the raid has made her address public knowledge.

In her first public interview since the search, given to MS Now, Omar pointed to the threats against her. "With the death threats that I deal with, it's not, it's no longer going to be feasible to be in that house and have my kids," she said.

What happened during the search

Omar said agents began "pounding on the doors" of her home around dawn on 12 October. She and her husband were in bed at the time. The couple ran downstairs, she said, and she recalled that "we were screaming." She described the episode as "so bizarre" and said it "obviously did freak all of us out."

She estimated that a sizable group of agents surrounded the house. She said they "conducted themselves in a decent way." She asked to see a warrant, and agents showed her one at the door. She then watched from the couch, she said, as agents moved from room to room for roughly five hours.

Omar said agents left with 17 items. They included several cellphones, notebooks and her husband's decades-old camera. Other reports say her personal computers and passport were also taken, according to the BBC.

What is known about the investigation

The government has not said what crime Omar is suspected of. It has said only that the search was part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. The BBC said it contacted the Justice Department for comment after the Department of Homeland Security referred it there.

More than a dozen subpoenas have also gone to members of Omar's family as part of the inquiry, according to the BBC. The search followed comments from officials that cast doubt on her US citizenship. Omar became a citizen in 2000 after arriving from Kenya.

Political reaction

Right after the search, Omar posted a statement calling it "an outrageous abuse of power" and "weaponisation of federal law enforcement to target political enemies." In the MS Now interview she again criticized the investigation and suggested it was meant to intimidate. Former President Barack Obama also condemned the probe in a lengthy statement, saying it was "so appalling."

Omar has represented Minnesota in Congress since 2018. She has long been a target of President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly suggested she "go back" to Somalia. Trump has denied any role in the investigation, saying it has "nothing to do with me." At a rally in Ohio this month he referred to the search, saying: "I don't know what they're doing with it, but I can tell you this: she's a disaster."

Omar rejected his account. "He's got everything to do with it," she said, tracing the dispute to 2019, when she said he was "screaming" that she should be sent back and deported.