A new report adds weight to allegations that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota married her own brother.
The report in the U.K. Daily Mail quoted a man named Abdihakim Osman as saying that Omar had been desperate to find a way to keep her brother Ahmed Elmi in the country.
“No one knew there had been a wedding until the media turned up the marriage certificate years later,” Osman, 40, who keeps tabs on the Somali community around Minneapolis through a Facebook blog, said. Omar has called criticism of her marriage “Islamophobia.”
Omar married Ahmed Hirsi in 2002 in a Muslim ceremony which was not registered by the state as a legal marriage. Marriage documents show Elmi and Omar married in 2009.
Osman said that not long after Omar married Hirsi, the man he was told was Omar’s brother entered the picture.
House Oversight Committee launches investigation into Walz over alleged Somali fraud
‘Home Improvement’ Star Arrested for 6th Time in 5 Years After Narrowly Avoiding Being Run Over by Fiancée: Police
House Democrats release ‘never-before-seen’ photos and videos of Epstein’s private island
Kevin Costner Set to Tell the True Story of Christmas in ABC Special ‘That Was Unthinkable Even a Couple of Years Ago’
National Guard killing reignites immigration war in Congress as Republicans demand sweeping reforms
Miami mayoral candidate reveals how he will flip script on Dem rival’s ‘city of renters’ strategy
University of Delaware student allegedly mapped out attack on campus police; illegal weapons recovered
Rand Paul Puts Aside Differences, Sends Trump a Personal Message Seeking to Partner on Key Proposal
Ben Stiller’s Attempt to Defend Somalis from Trump Backfires as Social Media Users Offer a Suggestion
Pentagon probe into secret Signal chats on Houthi strikes set to drop Thursday as Hegseth faces scrutiny
WATCH: Three Florida teenagers arrested in viral ‘door kick challenge’ targeting homeowners
US asks Lebanon to return Israeli bomb to prevent capture by Russia or China
Bondi blasts discrimination lawsuit from immigration judge: ‘Last time I checked, I’m a woman too’
Trump peace plan passes in Knesset despite boycott over mention of Palestinian statehood
‘Winter Vomiting Disease’ Is Spreading Rapidly in the US, CDC Data Shows
“People began noticing that Ilhan and Southside were often with a very effeminate young guy,” Osman said. “Southside” was a nickname Osman used for Hirsi. “He was very feminine in the way he dressed — he would wear light lipstick and pink clothes and very, very, short shorts in the summer. People started whispering about him.”
He said there was no secrecy then about the young man’s identity.
“[Hirsi] and Ilhan both told me it was Ilhan’s brother and he had been living in London but he was mixing with what were seen as bad influences that the family did not like,” Osman said.
“So they sent him to Minneapolis as ‘rehab.’”
Osman said the wedding to Elmi was deliberately kept quiet, unlike her first marriage.
“When [Hirsi] and Ilhan got married, a lot of people were invited. It was a big Islamic wedding uniting two large clans in the Minneapolis community. I would say there were 100-150 people there,” he said.
But, “When she married Elmi, no one even knew about it,” he said, adding that he suspected someone outside the Somali community was needed for the marriage because community members would know they were siblings.
House Oversight Committee launches investigation into Walz over alleged Somali fraud
‘Home Improvement’ Star Arrested for 6th Time in 5 Years After Narrowly Avoiding Being Run Over by Fiancée: Police
House Democrats release ‘never-before-seen’ photos and videos of Epstein’s private island
Kevin Costner Set to Tell the True Story of Christmas in ABC Special ‘That Was Unthinkable Even a Couple of Years Ago’
National Guard killing reignites immigration war in Congress as Republicans demand sweeping reforms
Miami mayoral candidate reveals how he will flip script on Dem rival’s ‘city of renters’ strategy
University of Delaware student allegedly mapped out attack on campus police; illegal weapons recovered
Rand Paul Puts Aside Differences, Sends Trump a Personal Message Seeking to Partner on Key Proposal
Ben Stiller’s Attempt to Defend Somalis from Trump Backfires as Social Media Users Offer a Suggestion
Pentagon probe into secret Signal chats on Houthi strikes set to drop Thursday as Hegseth faces scrutiny
WATCH: Three Florida teenagers arrested in viral ‘door kick challenge’ targeting homeowners
US asks Lebanon to return Israeli bomb to prevent capture by Russia or China
Bondi blasts discrimination lawsuit from immigration judge: ‘Last time I checked, I’m a woman too’
Trump peace plan passes in Knesset despite boycott over mention of Palestinian statehood
‘Winter Vomiting Disease’ Is Spreading Rapidly in the US, CDC Data Shows
Omar was clear on one thing: She wanted to keep her brother in the U.S.
“She said she needed to get papers for her brother to go to school. We all thought she was just getting papers together to allow him to stay in this country,” Osman said.
“Once she had the papers they could apply for student loans.”
“They both moved to North Dakota to go to school but she was still married to [Hirsi]. In the Somali way, the only marriage that mattered was the one in the mosque,” he said. “Ilhan came back to Minneapolis all the time to see her family, but her brother didn’t come with her.”
Omar and Elmi divorced in 2017. Omar married Hirsi in a civil ceremony in 2018.
“They never parted,” Osman said of Omar and Hirsi.
They have since, however. Hirsi and Omar divorced in November. Omar has been accused of having an affair with a consultant to her campaign.
Story cited here.
