Rep. Omar has recently been feeling the wrath of President Trump for her long history on anti-American rhetoric and unpatriotic sentiment.
She’s been at the center of controversy over her anti-Semitism and taking lightly 9/11 when she referred to the terrorist attack as “some people did some things” and instead interpreted America’s reaction to the tragedy as reflecting negatively on the Muslim community, of which she is a part of.
In light of Omar (and the rest of her squad) recently coming under fire from our America-first president, who has told her and the rest of Democrats who don’t love America to leave if they have such a problem with our nation and its values, let’s travel back to 2016 – the year Somali-American Rep. Omar sent a letter begging for “compassion” and a “restorative approach to justice” to be had on an ISIS recruiter from her home country!
News of Omar’s “compassion” for ISIS members has been brought back up to the surface as part of the on-going debate regarding her patriotism that’s been especially stirred up lately on Twitter:
As Mike Cernovich pointed out, even Snopes confirmed that the story of Omar begging for lighter sentences for ISIS members is true:
Speaking of which, here's what Snopes had to say about Omar's "empathy" for ISIS:
In June 2016, a U.S. District Court jury in Minnesota convicted nine Somali-American men of multiple charges relating to their efforts to join and provide support to the Islamic State terrorist organization (ISIS), starting in 2014.
One of them, Abdurahman Yasin Daud, was found guilty on three counts: conspiracy to murder outside the United States, conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Federal prosecutors presented evidence that Daud had been an active and enthusiastic participant in a conspiracy to travel to Syria and join ISIS in combat, watching and encouraging others to watch ISIS propaganda videos, as well as plotting and attempting to obtain fake travel documents and journey to the Middle East. Some of the Minnesota men involved in the conspiracy did ultimately join ISIS in Syria and were believed to have subsequently been killed in combat there.
In one court filing, the prosecution described Daud in the following terms:
Defendant was a committed, dedicated and enthusiastic member of this conspiracy, who was highly motivated to go to Syria, join ISIL, and perpetrate violence on that terrorist organization’s behalf. As discussed in more detail later, Defendant’s desire and dedication to becoming a terrorist for ISIL was most overtly exposed upon his apprehension in San Diego in April 2015 when he was attempting to obtain a fake passport. But long before Defendant’s arrest, Defendant hid in the shadows of the conspiracy – encouraging others to become fighters for ISIL and biding his time until he himself could leave to fight jihad1 in Syria. From the very beginning, Defendant was intimately involved with the group planning to fight for ISIL — participating in weekly meetings to discuss the situation in Syria, and ultimately, deciding that ISIL was his, and his co-defendant’s, chosen terrorist group.
Daud could have faced a sentence of life imprisonment, but prosecutors asked U.S. District Court judge Michael Davis to give him a lesser sentence of 30 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
What Ilhan Omar wrote
Thirteen individuals and groups wrote letters to Judge Davis, pleading on behalf of Daud for a lenient sentence. Many of the petitioners — who included Daud’s mother, brother, and childhood friends — testified to his personal qualities and previous work as a trainee community careworker and camp counselor and described him as a sensitive young man who had been radicalized and led astray from a once-promising future.
Among those who appealed to Judge Davis for leniency was Ilhan Omar, who sent her letter on 8 November 2016 — the same day on which she was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. In her letter (which can be read in full here), she wrote:
As you undoubtedly deliberate with great caution the sentencing of nine recently convicted Somali-American men, I bring to your attention the ramifications of sentencing young men who made a consequential mistake to decades in federal prison. Incarcerating 20-year-old men for 30 or 40 years is essentially a life sentence. Society will have no expectations of the to be 50- or 60-year-old released prisoners; it will view them with distrust and revulsion. Such punitive measures not only lack efficacy, they inevitably create an environment in which extremism can flourish, aligning with the presupposition of terrorist recruitment: “Americans do not accept you and continue to trivialize your value. Instead of being a nobody, be a martyr.”
The best deterrent to fanaticism is a system of compassion. We must alter our attitude and approach; if we truly want to affect [sic] change, we should refocus our efforts on inclusion and rehabilitation. A long-term prison sentence for one who chose violence to combat direct marginalization is a statement that our justice system misunderstands the guilty. A restorative approach to justice assesses the lure of criminality and addresses it.
The desire to commit violence is not inherent to people — it is the consequence of systematic alienation; people seek violent solutions when the process established for enacting change is inaccessible to them. Fueled by disaffection turned to malice, if the guilty were willing to kill and be killed fighting perceived injustice, imagine the consequence of them hearing, “I believe you can be rehabilitated. I want you to become part of my community, and together we will thrive.”
In the end, Judge Davis followed the prosecution’s recommendation and sentenced Daud to 30 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. As of January 2019, Daud was 25 years old. His scheduled release date is 30 June 2041.
Local Minnesota news source Fox 9 also had the following to say:
The 9 Minnesota men charged with planning to join ISIS are scheduled to be sentenced next week. Ahead of those court dates, 13 letters were sent to Judge Michael Davis in the case of defendant Abdirahman Yasin Daud, including a letter from state Rep. Ilhan Omar, who on Election Night became with first elected Somali-American lawmaker in the nation.
Rep. Omar asked Judge Davis for “compassion” and a “restorative approach to justice,” concluding that “this ruling can set a precedent and has the potential to be a landmark case in addressing extremism.”
Daud was one of two young men from the Twin Cities arrested in San Diego in April 2015 in an alleged plot to buy fake passports for travel to Syria. Federal prosecutors requested 30 years in prison for Daud, with a lifetime of supervised release.
The 13 letters sent to Judge Davis on behalf of Daud include similar pleas for leniency from Minneapolis City Council member Abdi Warsame, a Minneapolis Public Schools dean of students, several youth program coordinators and Daud’s own mother and brother. Warsame’s brief letter said Daud “is a young man who has a future ahead of him.”
The defense has pushed Judge Davis for lighter sentences, saying the young, immigrant men were caught between two worlds – the United States and pride in their Somali heritage. The defense argued the young men were lured by propaganda on the internet that suggested that a “true Muslim” should be in Syria saving other Muslims who are being killed and trying to restore the Caliphate.
In case you're curious, the full letter Omar wrote can be read at the bottom of the page here.
If this doesn't give credit to President Trump and many, many others belief that Omar's loyalty does not lie first with America, then I don't know what does!
Oh, maybe this laundry list of other questionable Omar moments:
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