At “WV GOP Day,” when West Virginia Republicans “Take the Rotunda” of the statehouse for various displays, a number of folk were taken aback by a number of anti-Muslim items, including this particular display:
Now that would be shocking if it were just some random Muslim woman in a hijab being somehow conflated with the 9/11 attacks. But this photo is of Somali-American politician Ilhan Omar, a US Representative from Minnesota, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, and the target of numerous death threats.
So, just to translate how that comes across to me: Muslims are our enemy and they attacked us on 9/11 … but we’ve clearly forgotten that because one of “them” is now in Congress.
Again, this was part of an array of displays and pamphlets and materials sponsored by the West Virginia GOP in the statehouse rotunda. This particular sign was apparently put up by the anti-Muslim group ACT for America.
In the course of the ensuing conflict in the rotunda about it, the House’s sergeant at arms, Anne Lieberman, a Republican, allegedly said that “All Muslims are terrorists.” While denying having said it, Lieberman resigned her post by the end of the day. Mike Caputo, Democratic lawmaker, allegedly injured a doorkeeper during the argument, and is being investigated.
While the GOP House Speaker later condemned “hatred in all its forms,” the comments of most of the GOP politicians were that the poster represented free speech, so they should just put it all behind them and get on with business.
Given the number of death threats Rep. Omar has received, this may be the sort of thing that pushes up against the bounds of free speech. But it’s also worth remembering that “free speech” isn’t just a rug under which to sweep stuff. The West Virginia GOP party had overall responsibility for the displays put up, and they invited the known extremists at “ACT for America” to join in the soiree. While they later denied responsibility for the display, and said that they asked to have it taken down when they “learned about it,” it’s impossible to believe that nobody from the organization didn’t walk around the rotunda first thing in the morning looking at the materials that had been put up but didn’t see it and accept it — until it became a public embarrassment.
Do you want to know more? West Virgina News, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, NBC, NY Magazine, The Hill, WaPo.