Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Democratic representative from Minnesota, has announced she will abandon her Washington, D.C., residence after federal agents executed a search warrant at her home earlier this month, citing heightened safety risks after her address was compromised during the raid.
In her first public comments since the pre-dawn search operation, Omar told MSN NOW that continuing to live in the home with her children is no longer practical given the persistent death threats she already faces. The raid, carried out by Homeland Security Investigations agents as part of an ongoing federal criminal probe, resulted in the seizure of more than a dozen personal items, including multiple cell phones, personal notebooks, Omar’s own passport and personal computer, and even a vintage camera belonging to her husband that dates back to the 1960s.
Federal authorities have not publicly specified what criminal activity Omar is suspected of, only confirming that the search was part of an active investigation. The probe comes amid recent public questioning from government officials over Omar’s 2000 U.S. citizenship, which she obtained after relocating from Kenya. Investigators have also issued more than a dozen subpoenas to members of Omar’s extended family as part of their inquiry.
Omar recounted the jarring details of the multi-hour raid to MSN NOW, describing how agents began loudly pounding on her front door at approximately 6 a.m. EDT on October 12, waking her and her husband who were asleep in bed. “We were screaming,” Omar said, recalling the moment the couple rushed downstairs to investigate the commotion, which she described as “so bizarre.” She estimated that between 15 and 25 agents surrounded her property, though she acknowledged that the officers themselves conducted themselves professionally during the search. After Omar requested documentation, agents presented a valid search warrant at the door before beginning their operation, which lasted roughly five hours as agents searched each room of her home before departing with the seized items.
Omar has sharply criticized the federal investigation, framing it as an intentional campaign of intimidation. Immediately after the raid concluded, she released a public statement calling the operation an “outrageous abuse of power” and accusing the government of weaponizing federal law enforcement to target political opponents. Former U.S. President Barack Obama has echoed this criticism, describing the federal probe as “so appalling” in a formal statement.
Omar, who has represented her Minnesota congressional district since 2018, has been a frequent target of criticism from former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly made inflammatory comments calling for her to “go back” to Somalia. When asked about the raid at an October campaign rally in Ohio, Trump claimed the investigation had “nothing to do with me,” adding that Omar is “a disaster.” But Omar rejected the former president’s denial, arguing the probe is directly tied to his long-standing criticism of her. “This goes back to 2019 when he was screaming about the fact that I need to be sent back, I need to be deported,” Omar said.