Nation's First Somali-American Lawmaker Harassed by Taxi Driver

He called her 'ISIS,' threatened to remove hijab, she says
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 8, 2016 12:22 PM CST
Nation's First Somali-American Lawmaker Harassed by Taxi Driver
In this Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 file photo, Ilhan Omar, center, applauds during a rally at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Minneapolis.   (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

Minnesota state Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar, who will soon take office as the nation's first Somali-American lawmaker, was harassed by a cab driver in Washington, DC, she revealed on Facebook. The 33-year-old was on her way from the White House, where she was learning about policy ideas, to her hotel on Tuesday when her driver "called me ISIS and threatened to remove my hijab," Omar wrote. She called his words "the most hateful, derogatory, islamophobic, sexist taunts and threats I have ever experienced" and said she was still "shaken" from the experience. In response to one of the comments on the post, Omar revealed that the driver "wasn't white," City Pages reports. (More Ilhan Omar stories.)

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