Rep. Ilhan Omar’s disabled State of the Union guest was arrested for standing up as President Donald Trump spoke, according to numerous statements. Aliya Rahman was removed from the gallery by Capitol Hill Police a little more than a month after she was dragged from her car by ICE while on her way to a doctor’s appointment in Minneapolis. The 43-year-old has been charged with unlawful conduct by disrupting Congress, according to separate statements from Omar, Rahman, and police. Speaking to Democracy Now, she said, “The sergeant of arms told me it was because I was standing up,” and claimed the incident had aggravated injuries from January. During the address, Trump called Minnesota’s Somali community “pirates.” Rahman said she stood when “I heard this man say some of the most racist things I have heard come out of any leader’s mouth about the people of my city, and continue to trash talk my state of Minnesota and glorify [Homeland Security], the people who did this to me and who are being allowed to roam free on the streets.” “The guest was told to sit down, but refused to obey our lawful orders,” Capitol Police told the Minnesota Reformer. “It is illegal to disrupt the Congress and demonstrate in the congressional buildings.”
