AOC defends Ilhan Omar over 9/11 comments and points out most domestic terrorism carried out by far-right white men
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the popular US congresswoman, has defended her colleague Ilhan Omar, after a conservative US tabloid accused the Muslim politician of trivialising the 9/11 terror attack.Ms Omar made a speech at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) event in Los Angeles on 23 March, in which she discussed the rise of Islamophobia in the US.A brief line from her speech, âsome people did somethingâ, was used on the front page of The New York Post on 11 April. The quote had been placed over an image of the World Trade Center during the attack on 11 September 2001.The move caused immediate outrage among Democrats, who said the quote had been taken out of context and that the cover was at the centre of a bad-faith attack on Ms Omar.âIâm not going to quote the NY Postâs horrifying, hateful cover,â Ms Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter.âHereâs 1 fact: [Ilhan Omar] is a cosponsor of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. Sheâs done more for 9/11 families than the GOP who wonât even support healthcare for 1st responders- yet are happy to weaponize her faith.âThe New York representative also criticised Dan Crenshaw, a Republican, for attacking Ms Omar and for not supporting the victim fund, which was created to help those affected by the attack. It is set to close in December 2020 if it is not reauthorised by Congress.âYou refuse to cosponsor the 9/11 Victimâs Compensation Fund, yet have the audacity to drum resentment towards Ilhan w/completely out-of-context quotes,â Ms Ocasio-Cortez said.âIn 2018, right-wing extremists were behind almost ALL US domestic terrorist killings. Why donât you go do something about that?âA report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), published in January 2019, found that every terrorist murder in the US in 2018 was linked to right-wing extremism.> You refuse to cosponsor the 9/11 Victimâs Compensation Fund, yet have the audacity to drum resentment towards Ilhan w/completely out-of-context quotes. > > In 2018, right-wing extremists were behind almost ALL US domestic terrorist killings. Why donât you go do something about that? https://t.co/rkb92IxkKX> > â Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) > > April 11, 2019Ms Omar is one of the first two Muslim women to ever sit in Congress and has frequently been targeted by right-wing US politicians and public figures.At the CAIR event the Minnesota representative criticised Donald Trumpâs attacks on Islam and Muslims.âMany of us knew this would get worse, we finally have a leader, a world leader, in the White House who publicly says âIslam hates usâ, who fuels hate against Muslims, who thinks it is okay to speak about a faith and a whole community in a way that is dehumanizing, vilifying and doesnât understand â or at least makes us want to think he doesnât understand â the consequences his words might have,â she said.Later in her speech the congresswoman discussed the founding of CAIR, a Muslim civil rights activism group, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. At this point she used the phrase âsome people did somethingâ.> @Ilhan full comments clearly speak to post 9/11 Islamophobia Manipulating her remarks is defaming & dangerous for her & her family. Stop with this recklessness. @rupertmurdoch this is on you â stoking hate, fear & division, putting REAL lives at risk. Shame on you. https://t.co/fpemnGxQKk> > â Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) > > April 11, 2019âCAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognised that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties,â she said.âSo you canât just say that today someone is looking at me strange and that I am trying to make myself look pleasant.âYou have to say that this person is looking at me strange, I am not comfortable with it, and I am going to talk to them and ask them why. Because that is the right you have.âAccording to The Los Angeles Daily News hundreds of protesters stood outside the CAIR eventâs location, shouting anti-Islam slogans such as âBurn the Koranâ and âIlhan Omar go to hellâ.Other Democrats, including Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley have also expressed support for Ms Omar.âThe NY Post knows exactly what itâs doing â taking quotes out of context and evoking painful imagery to spread hate and endangering the life of Rep. Omar. Shame on them, and shame on Rupert Murdoch,â Ms Tlaib, said.Mr Murdoch is the owner of the US tabloid.The controversy comes just days after a man was charged for threatening to kill Ms Omar, after placing a call to her office in which he called her a âterroristâ.
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