Florida man pleads guilty to sending death threats to Muslim Rep. Ilhan Omar

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A Florida man pleaded guilty Tuesday to threatening Rep. Ilhan Omar, more than two years after sending Omar an email threatening to kill her in 2019. Identified as David Hannon, the 67-year-old man pleaded guilty in Tampa federal court to one count of threatening a federal official, the Associated Press reported. According to court records, the charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

The threat came in an email with the subject line: “(You’re) dead, you radical Muslim.” Omar, one of only a few Muslim members of Congress, was asked if she was prepared “to die for Islam.” Hannon also referred to her and other congresswomen of color as “radical rats.” But that’s not all, according to a statement released by the Department of Justice: The email even stated Hannon’s intention to shoot Omar in the head.

According to NBC News, the email was sent after Omar and three other Congress members, all women of color known as “the Squad,” held a televised press conference criticizing then-President Donald Trump in connection to racist tweets he posted about their nationalities.

Hannon, upset that Omar criticized Trump for telling her and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib to”go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” tried to take matters into his own hands by sending a threatening email.

“All four of you will die and the American people will cheer! Patriots Against Islam!” his email read.

In a news conference Tuesday, the Justice Department called Hannon’s threat “hate-motivated.”

“No one should fear violence because of who they are or what they believe,” U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Roger Handberg said in a statement. “Unlawful threats against our elected officials are an assault against our democracy, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to seek justice in these cases.”

Born in Somalia, Omar came to the U.S. with her family in the 1990s. Since being elected as one of the first two Muslim women in Congress in 2018, she has consistently faced hate.

Last year during a press conference, Omar read some of the “hundreds” of threats she has received as a result of comments made not only by Trump but by her Republican colleagues in office. As reported by Daily Kos, Omar even held up her phone and played a graphic voicemail in which a person issued a death threat.

The Squad and other Democratic members of Congress are demanding more efforts be taken to protect minority officials who have constantly become the targets of right-wing media and extremists.