Few members of the tight-knit Somali community are willing to talk about Ilhan Omar — due to threats and fear of violence if they do.
The Minnesota representative is backed by a fiercely protective group, many of whom take it upon themselves to bombard anyone who speaks out with online threats and even physical harm in the US, Europe and Africa.
The group is not officially connected to Omar, and do not receive instructions from her and it is unclear if she is personally aware of their actions.
The Post understands one member of the community who broke ranks was assaulted on the streets of Minneapolis and again in Kenya after their name appeared in the press.
The critic was attacked outside a Kenyan restaurant in 2022 and left with a concussion as well as several cuts and bruises.
“I got jumped by 15 people and was pepper-sprayed,” the man, who asked not to be named for fear of further retribution, told The Post.
“After that I don’t really remember what happened. All I know is I was thrown to the ground and had so many punches and kicks thrown at me.
The man believes the attack was sparked by a popular Somali TikTok star, who described the critic as a “fool” and threatened to “punch him in the face” if he ever comes to Minnesota.
“I was attacked because of this man. He set his followers on me after sharing my location,” he claimed.
In separate videos, the TikTokker tells his loyal fans: “There are people in our community who have snitched on Ilhan Omar, as well as gone after her father.
“People have looked the other way for too long, you bitches.”
Local Minnesota journalists have encountered problems reporting on Omar since she was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2016. The notoriously protective and tight-knit community was quick to hurl accusations of racism at anything that questioned her background, policies or turbulent personal life, sources told The Post.
Omar first came to Minnesota as a refugee in 1995, escaping the bloody civil war in Somalia. She has faced allegations she fraudulently married her second husband — also her alleged brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi — for immigration purposes. They married in 2009 and split around 2012, but did not divorce until 2017.
Meanwhile, one Post source within the community received a chilling phone call, telling him to recant anything he had ever said about Omar and to instead issue statements of support for her ahead of the midterms.
“I feel very threatened for simply disagreeing with anything to do with Ilhan Omar,” the source claimed.
“If you don’t support her, then these people online really want to make you pay. I am fearful of my life every single day. I wish I never said anything about her.
“I get death wishes every day, and I am afraid to leave my home. On the rare occasions I do, I am verbally abused or, worse, actually physically assaulted.”
Only a handful of people in the Somali community have been willing to publicly share what they know about Omar’s relationship with Elmi since it first came to light.
One man based in Somalia, known as Aardile, claimed to have put a hit out on the Minnesota man who was quoted speaking negatively about Omar in a report.
“We are sending people after you, they’re going to put you in hospital and in a coma,” he proudly stated in a video online.
“My heart sank when I heard that because these people are not a joke, they’re dangerous,” the source told The Post.
“I stayed in bed for the entire week and could not face going outside in fear of being shot dead at any moment.”
Another outright told him “you are going to be killed” and labelled him a “snake.”
The Post also heard a chilling seven-minute phone call made by a “leading member” of the Somali community in the city to someone speaking against the congresswoman.
The source was explicitly told to say “I lied about Omar because we were arguing” and to publish a message of support for her ahead of the elections.
The source — who also asked not to be named — ultimately refused, but said he felt pressured because he didn’t want to be “villainized in the community” further.
None of the social media trolls are linked to Omar and she is not accused of any wrongdoing. Her office did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
The congresswoman has vehemently denied that her 2009 marriage was a sham to obtain legal immigration status for Elmi.
