FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 1, 2021
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Muslim, Jewish Civil Rights Groups Call for Ethics Investigation of Lauren Boebert
Boebert’s Anti-Muslim Attacks Invite Further Hate and Violence
Washington, DC — On Tuesday evening, Muslim Advocates and Bend the Arc: Jewish Action sent a letter asking the House Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) because of her repeated, anti-Muslim attacks against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Muslim Advocates also launched a campaign asking House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to strip Boebert of her committee assignments and publicly condemn both Boebert’s comments and also similar, anti-Muslim comments from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
Speaking to constituents over the Thanksgiving holiday, Boebert told a made-up story about being in a Capitol Hill elevator with Omar and telling an approaching Capitol police officer “Well, she [Omar] doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine.” At another event a few months prior, Boebert told a different version of the story where she called Rep. Omar part of a “Jihad Squad.” She also said that Omar and Tlaib were “black-hearted, evil women.” Boebert subsequently used a phone call with Omar not to apologize publicly but to double down on her hate and call Omar “anti-American” and a “terrorist sympathizer.”
"Right after we asked for an ethics investigation into Lauren Boebert, Ilhan Omar played a heinous, terrifying death threat she recieved inspired by Boebert's anti-Muslim attacks," said Muslim Advocates Communications Director Eric Naing. "When public officials use their megaphones to broadcast hate against Muslims and other vulnerable communities, threats and violence follow. That's why it's so important that Boebert be thoroughly investigated and held accountable for her anti-Muslim hate."
"We are deeply disturbed by Rep. Boebert’s abhorrent rhetoric. The death threat shared by Rep. Omar illustrates the danger we face when those in positions of power shamelessly spread politically-charged lies and hate-filled messages," added Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block, Washington Director of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. "We stand in solidarity with our Muslim neighbors, and all targeted communities in denouncing hate speech and calling on our leaders to hold Rep. Boebert accountable.”
In the letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics, Muslim Advocates and Bend the Arc note that not only do Boebert’s anti-Muslim attacks sully the reputation of the House of Representatives, they also invite additional hate and threats against the Muslim members of Congress, their staff and all religious minorities.
“Rep. Boebert’s hateful, anti-Muslim statements pose real-life dangers. When elected officials attack religious minorities, they can lay the groundwork for real violence against those communities,” stated the letter. “Her repeated invocation of the false, offensive stereotype of Muslims as anti-American and terrorist sympathizers gives her many followers a green light to direct hate and threats towards Reps. Tlaib, Carson and Omar—as well as all American Muslims.”
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