Ilhan Omar: Muslim congresswoman says she has faced increased death threats since Trump’s 9/11 tweet

Democrat accuses president of 'endangering lives' by 'encouraging right-wing extremists'

Ilhan Omar says she has received an increasing number of death threats since Donald Trump shared a video suggesting she had been dismissive of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“We are all Americans. This is endangering lives,” she said, as she accused the president of encouraging right-wing extremism. “It has to stop.”

Ms Omar said many of the threats against her life directly referenced Mr Trump’s video, which has not been deleted.

Her statement was released late on Sunday following an announcement by House speaker Nancy Pelosi which said she had taken steps to ensure the congresswoman’s safety and demanded Mr Trump remove the video.

A New York man was recently arrested and charged with threatening to assault and murder Ms Omar due to her Muslim faith, according to court documents.

Ms Omar is one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress, alongside Rashida Tlaib.

“Violent crimes and other acts of hate by right-wing extremists and white nationalists are on the rise in this country and around the world,” she said in her statement.

“We can no longer ignore that they are being encourage by the occupant of the highest office in the land.”

She also referenced research, carried out using data from the Anti-Defamation League, which recorded a 226 per cent increase in hate crimes in counties that hosted Trump rallies in the months following those events.

The controversy around the congresswoman comes from a speech she gave to the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), in which she spoke about how Muslims have faced discrimination since 9/11.

Ms Omar said: “CAIR was founded after 9/11, because they recognised that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.”

Mr Trump's video, which shows a short section of Ms Omar’s speech alongside news footage from the terrorist attack, has been viewed more than 9 million times.

Neither the president's tweet nor the video included the congresswoman’s full quote or the context of her comments.

Mr Trump has not apologised for the video and retweeted further criticism of Ms Omar on Friday.

The president’s tweet has provoked strong criticism from Democrats, who have accused Mr Trump of inciting violence against the Minnesota congresswoman.

Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren both described attacks on Ms Omar as “disgusting”.

Ms Warren said: “The president is inciting violence against a sitting congresswoman – and an entire group of Americans based on their religion… any elected leader who refuses to condemn it shares responsibility for it.”

Other Democratic presidential candidates, such as Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, also released statements condemning the video or defending Ms Omar.

When asked on CNN about Mr Trump’s comments, New York Democrat Jerry Nadler said he had no problem with Ms Omar’s reference to 9/11.

He also accused Mr Trump of “stealing” a $150,000 grant that was meant to help small businesses in New York in the aftermath of the terror attack.

“He has no moral authority to be talking about 9/11 at all,” he said.

However, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended Mr Trump on Sunday, saying he wished no “ill will” upon Ms Omar and was right to call out the first-term congresswoman.

Ms Sanders questioned why Democrats were not also criticising Ms Omar.

"It's absolutely abhorrent the comments that she continues to make and has made and they look the other way," she said.