CPI Member Penny Arcos Confronts Ilhan Omar

On October 30th, 2024, CPI member Penny Arcos attended a town hall for US Representative Ilhan Omar in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she confronted Omar about her support for sending military aid to Ukraine and extending the conflict.

"No more money for rich men's wars!" was Penny’s battle cry as they ushered her towards the exit. “I have intervened on Ilhan several times,” Penny told CPI. “Every time, she refused to address the UKRAINE issue.” Penny was not the first to speak up. It began with a man interrupting the Town Hall to address the issue of sending arms and money to Israel in the midst of their genocidal campaign in Gaza. He was allowed to speak and was not removed from the venue – in fact, he confronted the congresswoman not once but twice on the Israel issue during this town hall. Shortly after, Penny stood up to confront Ilhan about sending billions of tax payer dollars to Ukraine, which Ilhan has voted in favor of on more than one occasion. Almost immediately, Penny was ejected from the venue.

“As soon as I brought up the Nazis in Ukraine,” Penny recounted, “a Somalian with a keffiyeh rose out of his seat and blocked me from recording. That gave me even more boldness to confront these hypocrites.” Penny criticized Omar’s willingness to send endless money for imperialist wars while pretending to “cry hysterically for the children in Ukraine.” In some ways, this confrontation is in line with the purported ideals of Omar herself, who told a banquet audience in 2019: “I say raise hell. Make people uncomfortable.”

Penny’s reasons were clear. “Why did I do it? Because it is empowering to speak truth to a smug politician who pretends to be standing up for justice.” Penny also fears that further escalation of these wars might lead to her military-aged son being drafted as “cannon fodder.” She says she would not do anything different, except to say more if she had had the chance. Penny encourages anyone who can to stand up and show courage in their own way, saying that “even accompanying someone to an intervention or filming the intervention is an act of bravery.”

“Everyone has something they can do to put a wrench in the machine,” Penny said. “Ilhan still holds power. But at least I can be a mosquito in her ear.”