Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday condemned the arrest of a guest she brought to the State of the Union, saying that being charged with a crime for standing up in the gallery during the president’s address “sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy.”

Aliya Rahman, a U.S. citizen who was dragged from her vehicle after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shattered its window during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, attended the president’s speech Tuesday night at the invitation of Omar. As Trump was speaking, Rahman was seen being escorted from the gallery above the House floor by Capitol Police officers. She could be heard shouting for someone to call Omar, and that all she had done was stand up.

Rahman, 43, Omar and the U.S. Capitol Police said in separate statements that Rahman had been charged with unlawful conduct by disrupting Congress. The misdemeanor charge is punishable with a fine of up to $500 and up to six months in prison.

Rahman — who is disabled and has autism, according to a written statement she provided to Congress this month — told Democracy Now in an interview that the arrest aggravated injuries that she had sustained when federal agents dragged her from her vehicle last month while she was headed to an appointment for a traumatic brain injury.

After her arrest Tuesday night, Rahman was taken to a hospital before being booked at Capitol Police headquarters, according to her and Omar’s statements.

Rahman told Democracy Now that she had been standing “silent, arms by my side,” during Trump’s remarks before Capitol Police officers took her into custody. She said officers were “pulling on my shoulders after I told them I have a torn rotator cuff tendon and multiple cartilage tears in both of my shoulders.”

Rahman added that officers stopped pulling on her only after a sergeant intervened in a back stairwell.

The Capitol Police did not respond to questions about Rahman’s account of the arrest or her hospital visit. An unsigned statement from the Capitol Police said that “all State of the Union tickets clearly explain that demonstrating is prohibited” and “the guest was told to sit down, but refused to obey our lawful orders.”

Both Rahman and Omar noted that other guests in the gallery above the House floor had stood up at times during Trump’s speech. The statement from the Capitol Police did not address whether any other people had been standing during the remarks.

Omar, D-Minn., who has strongly condemned the president’s immigration policies, had herself moved to disrupt Trump’s speech on Tuesday night. “You’ve killed Americans!” she yelled at him. Trump retorted: “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

In a social media post Wednesday, Trump attacked Omar, along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, another Democratic Muslim-American lawmaker, as “low IQ,” adding that during the speech they “had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS.”

In her statement, Omar said that “the heavy-handed response to a peaceful guest sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy. I am calling for a full explanation of why this arrest occurred.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Chris Cameron and Michael Gold/Eric Lee
c. 2026 The New York Times Company