Lifestyle News Opinons Politics

Somali Community Leader: Yes, Ilhan Omar Married Her Brother To Keep Him in US

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.


Viral footage shows DoorDash driver allegedly pepper-spraying customer’s food order during delivery
Trump announces pardon for Colorado clerk: ‘Simply wanted to make sure that our elections were fair’
Trump administration offers $5M reward for capture of fugitive Los Choneros gang leader
New Hampshire 6-year-old tests positive for cocaine, cannabis; mother faces multiple charges
Trump signs executive order limiting state regulation of AI
Wisconsin judge in Trump fake electors case accused of not writing his own ruling
Watch: Leftist Says He ‘Deserves to Be Robbed’ for Being White, Regrets It Seconds Later
Gavin Newsom Accused of ‘Inciting More Violence’ with AI Trump Administration Video
Top 5 moments: Noem clashes with Dems in fiery hearing as drones, deportations erupt into flashpoints
Alleged Jan. 6 pipe bomber’s detention hearing delayed until end of month
See the Biden-era ‘DEI’ coins Bessent scrapped as Trump team restores patriotic 250th designs
Video: Charlie Kirk Assassination Suspect Tyler Robinson Smiles and Laughs as He Makes First Court Appearance
13 House Republicans Side with Democrats, Vote to Overturn Trump Executive Order
Twice-deported Honduran accused of stabbing passenger on Charlotte light rail faces federal charges
US set to seize tens of millions in Venezuelan oil after tanker interception, White House says

See also  Walz says he would ‘welcome more’ Somalis as fraud investigation intensifies

“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.


Viral footage shows DoorDash driver allegedly pepper-spraying customer’s food order during delivery
Trump announces pardon for Colorado clerk: ‘Simply wanted to make sure that our elections were fair’
Trump administration offers $5M reward for capture of fugitive Los Choneros gang leader
New Hampshire 6-year-old tests positive for cocaine, cannabis; mother faces multiple charges
Trump signs executive order limiting state regulation of AI
Wisconsin judge in Trump fake electors case accused of not writing his own ruling
Watch: Leftist Says He ‘Deserves to Be Robbed’ for Being White, Regrets It Seconds Later
Gavin Newsom Accused of ‘Inciting More Violence’ with AI Trump Administration Video
Top 5 moments: Noem clashes with Dems in fiery hearing as drones, deportations erupt into flashpoints
Alleged Jan. 6 pipe bomber’s detention hearing delayed until end of month
See the Biden-era ‘DEI’ coins Bessent scrapped as Trump team restores patriotic 250th designs
Video: Charlie Kirk Assassination Suspect Tyler Robinson Smiles and Laughs as He Makes First Court Appearance
13 House Republicans Side with Democrats, Vote to Overturn Trump Executive Order
Twice-deported Honduran accused of stabbing passenger on Charlotte light rail faces federal charges
US set to seize tens of millions in Venezuelan oil after tanker interception, White House says

See also  The most googled people in US for 2025

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.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter