WASHINGTON — The Minneapolis representative in Congress, Ilhan Omar, denied an accusation that she applauded the assassination of ultra-right activist Charlie Kirk last week in Utah. Omar, a Democrat, said in fact that she has routinely condemned political violence. The accusation against Omar originated with Nancy Mace, a North Carolina Republican. Mace drafted a resolution for Congress to censure Omar and strip her of all House committee assignments. Without evidence, Mace called Omar “someone who defends political violence” and called her “vile.” Mace’s resolution claims Omar went on the social media platform X and stated things like, “Charlie Kirk was Dr. Frankenstein, and his monster shot him through the neck.” Omar responded that Mace was trying to censure her for comments she never made. Mace’s resolution, Omar said, doesn’t have a single quote from her. Omar called Mace’s censure call an attempt to “push a false story.” There have been attempts among Trump supporters since Kirk’s death to blame Democrats and “leftist organizations.” It’s a campaign to divert attention from President Trump’s rhetoric demonizing his critics and encouraging political violence.
Political violence: Who’s to blame?
Right-wing extremists since 1990 have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than leftists or radical Islamist extremists, according to a massive study by National Institute of Justice. The study concluded:
> Rightists committed 227 ideologically motivated acts that took 520 lives.
> Leftists committed 42 attacks that took 78 lives.
The study is the most comprehensive government assessment ever conducted on domestic terrorism patterns. It found that “militant, nationalistic, white supremacist violent extremism increased in the United States over the 30-year span: “The number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism.” The government-funded study had been posted for months on the U.S. Justice Department website. It was taken down without explanation September 12. This was as President Trump and his aides were devising a narrative that blamed a leftist conspiracy for the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Suddenly, said Trump critics, the National Institute of Justice study was an inconvenient truth.
Omar. A Democrat. Highly visible and outspoken U.S. House member from MN-5 since 2019.
Mace. A Republican. In U.S. congress from South Carolina since 2020. Inclined to conspiracy theories, among them that the government has hidden the “truth” for 75 years about flying saucers from Outer Space.