The poster of Ilhan Omar elicits outrage, physical altercation in the capital of West Virginia's "GOP Day".

Friday was a day to celebrate the Republican Party at the West Virginia Capitol. But a poster linking a Muslim Muslim congresswoman to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks sparked emotions, the resignation of at least one staff member and left another injured when things materialized when the ## 147 ## Altercation erupted in the room of the West Virginia House of Delegates.

The poster, at a table in the Capitol Rotunda, bore a picture of freshman Ilhan Omar (D-Min.) Located under one of the twin towers on fire.

"Never forget" – You said, "read the text placed on the photo of the World Trade Center.

"I am proof that you have forgotten," read the caption on Omar's image.

Omar, one of the first two members of the Muslim Congress ever to be elected, has been the target of Islamophobic defamation since taking office.

We did not know immediately who was responsible for the poster, during a day called "WVGOP Day", sponsored by the Republican Party. Melody Potter, President of the State Party, did not respond to voice messages or text messages.

The pictures in the poster showed it next to a sign promoting ACT for America, which the Southern Poverty Law Center had designated as an anti-Muslim hate group. ACT for America did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Islamophobic poster targeting Omar (see above) was placed next to a sign indicating ACT for America, designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group. (Mike Pushkin)

Mike Pushkin, a Democratic member of the House of Delegates of West Virginia, told The Washington Post that he was attending a committee meeting in the morning when someone sent him a photo of the poster. Later, he slammed and tweeted a picture of it after going to see him.

"I said, what does it have to do with 9/11?", He said. "It was Islamophobic. I thought it was racist and that was wrong. "

The poster triggered a heated debate in the hallway in front of the House of Delegates that eventually spilled into the room, Pushkin said.

The sergeant-at-arms of the body delivered a letter of resignation at the end of the day after being accused of insulting a Muslim during the conflict, according to the same source. West Virginia Public Radio and other local outlets. A doorman would have been injured during a dispute with a member about the room doors.

Pushkin, who is Jewish, said that he had condemned the floor poster of the House of Delegates and had asked his colleagues to do the same.

"I said," In 1933, in Berlin, they might have had a similar poster on someone like me, "he said.

But no Republican delegate condemned the poster, Pushkin said.

"I am really disappointed that not a single Republican elected in this building can join me in saying that it is wrong," he said.

Many Republicans got up to talk about the First Amendment in response, according to West Virginia Public Radio.

"My problem with what I've seen on the outside is related to another truly American fundamental problem, namely freedom of expression," said Republican Del. Dianna Graves, reported West Virginia public radio. "So, I may not agree with all that is. There, I agree that freedom of expression is something we must protect, even if we do not accept it. "

Democrats responded that the poster was hate speech.

Roger Hanshaw, Speaker of the Republican House of Representatives, delivered a speech in which he deplored the anger and tension that had marked the day.

"Friends, we must do better," he said. "The House of Delegates of West Virginia has unequivocally rejected hatred in all its forms," ​​said in a statement. Spokesman, Jared Hunt, said that Mr. Hanshaw had not condemned the poster because of the events of the day.

"There was a poster, there was a reaction, there was a fight between the Sergeant-at-Arms and a delegate, then an incident that caused the injury of a member of the staff of the House, "said Hunt. "It was a series of escalations that went wrong."

Omar, a Somali refugee who emigrated to the United States with her parents when she was young, tweeted that she had recently received threats.

"Look no further, the anti-Muslim GOP show comparing me to a terrorist terrorist in state capitals and no one condemning them!" She wrote.

Omar was reprimanded last month by conservatives as well as Democratic Party leaders after tweeting about the influence of pro-Israel lobbies that some have deemed anti-Semitic. But she was also the object of attacks based on her religion.

Pushkin said that he was not concerned with his policy.

"I do not agree with many of the things that Representative Omar has said – I think we probably have different perspectives on Israel and the Middle East," he said. "But I have the greatest respect for a person who came into this country as she did and crossed the United States of America with absolutely nothing and got the right, by winning elections, to serve in the capital of our country representatives. "

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