--- title: Display Targeting Rep. Omar Rocks West Virginia Statehouse description: West Virginia's state government faced a string of disruptions Friday, after an anti-Muslim group was permitted to display propaganda. canonical: https://time.com/5542375/west-virginia-ilhan-omar-anti-muslim/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-02T20:18:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:55:13.956Z article:section: Politics og:title: Anti-Muslim Poster Targeting Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar Rocks West Virginia Statehouse og:description: It led to a resignation, an injury and multiple condemnations og:url: https://time.com/5542375/west-virginia-ilhan-omar-anti-muslim/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8c7ab9e042c70c3/69894620e76ad2716263444c/ilhan-omar-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-ILHAN-OMAR og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Anti-Muslim Poster Targeting Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar Rocks West Virginia Statehouse twitter:description: It led to a resignation, an injury and multiple condemnations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8c7ab9e042c70c3/69894620e76ad2716263444c/ilhan-omar-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Anti-Muslim Poster Targeting Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar Rocks West Virginia Statehouse > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Mar 2, 2019 8:18 PM UTC  US Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Feb. 7, 2019. US Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Feb. 7, 2019. SAUL LOEB—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Mar 2, 2019 8:18 PM UTC West Virginia’s state government faced a string of disruptions Friday, after an anti-Muslim group was permitted to display Islamophobic propaganda at the statehouse, including a poster that targeted Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. The display, set up by the anti-Muslim group WV ACT for America, was placed outside of the state legislature’s chamber to mark “WVGOP Day,” [according to the Washington _Post_.](https://www.washingtonpost.com) It was strewn with articles and reading materials with titles such as “Readin’, Writin’, and Jihadin’ The Islamization of America Public Schools” and “The Four Stages of Islamic Conquest,” according to local news channel [WOWK-TV](https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/controversy-over-anti-islamic-booth-during-gop-day-at-capitol/1820578384). However, a poster of Rep. Omar, the first congresswoman to wear a religious headscarf, particularly stood out. > [](https://twitter.com/dabenter/status/1101929306375241735) The poster showed an image of the World Trade Center burning with the words “‘Never Forget’ – You said” above them. Below was an image of Omar with the phrase, “I am the proof you have forgotten.” Rep. Omar, who has recently faced accusations of [anti-Semitism](http://time.com/5527011/ilhan-omar-anti-semitic-tweets/) and been a frequent target of [racism](http://time.com/4595178/ilhan-omar-somali-american-lawmaker-harassed-muslim/), tweeted an image of the poster on Friday, as well as a post of graffiti that said “Assassinate Ilhan Omar.” “No wonder why I am on the ‘Hitlist’ of a domestic terrorist and ‘Assassinate Ilhan Omar’ is written on my local gas station,” Omar wrote. > [](https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1101614278585536512) In West Virginia, the display caused the statehouse to fall into upheaval. Sergeant-at-arms Anne Lieberman was accused by another legislator of saying, “all Muslims are terrorists,” according to the [_Register-Herald,_](https://www.register-herald.com/news/state%5Fregion/wv-faith-leaders-condemn-anti-muslim-display-and-the-bills/article%5Fbe41cde1-9ec2-59b8-bedd-40862a1eed91.html) leading to her resignation. A Democratic delegate, Mike Caputo, kicked in a door and injured a doorkeeper who wouldn’t let him inside during the Pledge of Allegiance. Caputo later told the _Register-Herald_ that he had kicked the door because he thought that the hostility had made it more important for him to be inside. “My goal was to get in that chamber, protect my members, go to the speaker and try to figure this thing out,” Caputo said. Multiple legislators spoke out against the hate speech, including state delegate Mike Pushkin, a Democrat. “It’s ugly, it’s hateful and there’s absolutely no place for it in American politics,” said Pushkin, [according to WV News](https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/wv-house-democrats-condemn-anti-muslim-speech-signs/article%5F1f7eb95c-0c9d-58d3-8c67-7d6c3040395c.html). “Not in the country that I love. Not in the state that I love. We all give up our time during this time of year to come up here and serve our constituents because we love this state. Well, I love everybody in the state, no matter what they look like, who they pray to, who they love. I’m tired of it. It disgusts me.” House speaker Roger Hanshaw, a Republican, also condemned the incidents in a statement and said that the house leaders are working to investigate what happened. “The West Virginia house of delegates unequivocally rejects hate in all of its forms,” Hanshaw’s statement said. “As we began today’s floor session, we had a series of incidents occur in and outside of our chamber that absolutely do not reflect the character and civility the people of this state demand of their public servants.” Others appeared to be less inclined to condemn the hate speech, arguing that it is a question of freedom of speech. “While I may not agree with everything that is out there, I do agree that freedom of speech is something we have to protect, even if we don’t agree with it,” Republican state delegate Dianna Graves said. “Maybe especially because we don’t believe in it.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a friend of Omar’s and another freshman congresswoman, criticized the GOP on Saturday for failing to speak up against hate speech. “When racism becomes acceptable on a partisan basis, and official GOP groups begin to use it to demonize communities, it puts real people in danger,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. > [](https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1101866699207442432) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5542375/west-virginia-ilhan-omar-anti-muslim/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5542375/west-virginia-ilhan-omar-anti-muslim/"},"headline":"Anti-Muslim Poster Targeting Minnesota Rep. 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