A poster linking Ilhan Omar to 9/11 was spotted in the West Virginia statehouse, sparking outrage

Ilhan Omar.
(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

A poster linking Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks spotted in the West Virginia statehouse sparked outrage on Friday.

The poster showed a photograph of Omar beneath an image of the attacks, arguing that the newly elected congresswoman, a Muslim and a refugee from Somalia, was "proof" that Americans have forgotten Sept. 11.

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The image was first spread by Mike Pushkin, a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, who said someone saw the poster and sent him a picture of it. "I thought it was racist and it was wrong," Pushkin said. The poster eventually led to an altercation between some Democratic lawmakers and the House's sergeant-at-arms, who was accused of making an "anti-Muslim" remark and subsequently resigned.

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Pushkin said no Republican lawmakers condemned the paper, The Washington Post reported. But several responded to the incident by arguing that it was a matter of free speech.

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