Ilhan Omar could face a challenge from a decorated veteran of the U.S. military who is seeking to unseat her.
Chris Kelley lives and is a police officer in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. He has spent nearly three decades in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves and says Omar’s comments about the 9/11 attacks have offended him to his core.
“September 11 was a terrible loss of life, not just for police officers and firefighters and other first responders, but 3,000 people and non-combatants died, and to be dismissive of that was an outrage. I could sit and complain or I could do something about it,” he told Fox News. “And I believe I can be a positive voice in standing up for people in our country, and for our first responders and the people every day on the frontlines.”
The Democratic Minnesota representative famously referred to the 9/11 hijackers as “some people who did something” as she lamented Islamophobia in America and the societal burden Muslim people carry in the aftermath of the attacks.
She is one of four freshman members of Congress, self-dubbed “the squad,” that has risen to prominence in the Democratic Party on the sails of their ultra-liberal ideas and huge social media following.
President Trump, who lost Minnesota by just 1.5 percentage points, has attacked Omar and her freshman colleagues as “un-American” people who “hate this country.” Trump also suggested Omar “go back” to Somalia, the country she was born in.
Omar has called Trump and Republican immigration policies racist, a sentiment Kelley disagrees with.
“Immigration is a big issue right now. I believe in having a secure border; if you don’t have a country, you don’t have a border, and our border agents are doing a great job, but they are being overwhelmed, and Congress isn’t giving them the tools they need,” he said. “But I would also like to see a pathway to citizenship for those under DACA; they couldn’t help they were brought here and need a shot to be able to stay here.”
Kelley once ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Minnesota and lost.
