Rep. Ilhan Omar Says Federal Agent Was Stationed Outside Her Monthly Town Hall Meeting in Richfield, Minnesota

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar says a Homeland Security Investigations agent was outside her monthly town hall meeting in Richfield, Minnesota, on Thursday.

Omar posted a letter she sent to Michael McCarthy, interim special agent in charge of HSI’s office in St. Paul, Minnesota, regarding the incident on social media Monday afternoon. The document said a Richfield police officer noticed a young woman sitting in a Ford Explorer as people arrived at an area community center, where the meeting took place, and “became suspicious of the way she was monitoring the building.”

According to Omar’s letter, the officer then ran the plates attached to the Ford and found they were registered to a different vehicle. They then approached the woman in the SUV.

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The woman left the property after speaking with her supervisor, according to Omar’s letter.

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Omar said the incident “raises concerns” about practices at HSI and its parent agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She’s asking McCarthy to explain why the agent was stationed outside the community center, how the agency learned of the meeting and what training the agent had completed.

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