‘I Just Stood Up’: The Stunning Arrest Of Aliya Rahman At The State Of The Union | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON ― When President Donald Trump wished “happy birthday” to a World War II veteran who had simply turned 100, Aliya Rahman stood as much as clap.

When Trump made racist feedback about Minneapolis’ Somali neighborhood, saying they hail from cultures “where bribery, corruption and lawlessness are the norm,” Rahman stood up once more, not clapping, and saying nothing.

This is fairly customary fare for attending a State of the Union handle, which Rahman did on Tuesday night time, because the visitor of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). Knowing they’re on nationwide TV, members of Congress spend the entire night time calculating when to face up and clap in help of one thing the president says, or when to decidedly not arise, in a show of disagreement. Their visitors and others seated within the balcony above typically arise at moments, too.

Except on Tuesday, Rahman was arrested for it.

It’s as bonkers because it sounds. Rahman, a Bangladeshi American software program engineer primarily based in Minneapolis, says she and others seated close to had already stood up a number of instances earlier than law enforcement officials approached her and informed her she “couldn’t stand up.” She didn’t suppose they have been critical, however moments later, they grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her out.

“I just stood up,” Rahman mentioned in an interview. “I stood silently, with no signs. I was not blocking anyone’s view of the hall. And then I was arrested.”

Her shoulders have been already injured. Last month, Rahman, who’s autistic and has bodily disabilities, was driving to a physician’s appointment in Minneapolis when federal Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers surrounded her automobile, smashed in her window, dragged her out and locked her up at a federal detention heart the place she claims she skilled extreme medical neglect and violence by the hands of ICE officers, requiring hospitalization for assault.

An eyewitness captured her incident on movieand photographs of Rahman’s violent encounter with ICE went viral. Fast ahead to a couple weeks in the past, and she or he was testifying to Congress concerning the abuse she endured that day that she believes almost killed her.

Some ladies sitting close to Rahman on the State of the Union acknowledged her from her testimony, and tried to intervene as she was being dragged out. One was an lawyer who requested if Rahman wanted one. Another was Dr. Anita Patel, who was a visitor of Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and who knew of Rahman’s accidents.

“She stood up silently, did not make a noise, and was [descended] upon as if she was a criminal while she wore an n95 mask and used a cane,” Patel wrote in a Thursday Instagram put up.

“I jumped over the railing and said, ‘You need to let her go. She has bilateral shoulder injuries. She has a traumatic brain injury, and she’s neurodivergent,’” Patel mentioned within the video she posted. “They subsequently continued to pull her. Then I got in front of them. They told me, either I step aside or I get dragged out with her.”

Patel added: “Don’t let them twist her story into something that it’s not.”

Rahman says after she was ejected from the occasion, Capitol Police officers handcuffed her, took away her cane and held her in a stairwell. They wouldn’t say if she was below arrest, and as they jerked her round by her shoulders, she repeatedly requested for her cane. One officer responded, “You are walking,” that means she didn’t want her cane.

“Bullying, intimidating, not listening,” Rahman mentioned. “Who takes a cane away from a disabled person? I’m trying to slow them down. I’m not resisting, I’m disabled.”

Officers have been aggressive sufficient together with her that she needed to be taken to George Washington University Hospital for therapy after they dragged her from the occasion. She was later booked at U.S. Capitol Police headquarters.

Rahman mentioned she suspects she was singled out as a result of she was the visitor of Omar, a frequent critic of Trump and somebody routinely focused with racist assaults by this administration.

In a press release, U.S. Capitol Police mentioned Rahman was arrested for “demonstrating.”

“At approximately 10:07 p.m., a person in the House Gallery started demonstrating during the State of the Union Address,” reads their assertion. “The guest was told to sit down, but refused to obey our lawful orders. It is illegal to disrupt the Congress and demonstrate in the Congressional Buildings, so 43-year-old Aliya M. Rahman of Minneapolis, MN, was arrested for D.C. Code §10-503.16 – Unlawful Conduct, Disruption of Congress.”

A Capitol Police spokesperson additional mentioned standing up is taken into account a type of demonstration.

“Yes – standing (not just standing monetarily with the crowd) is a form of demonstration,” the spokesperson mentioned in an emailed message. “The officers had no idea what her background was or whose guest she was. They told her to sit down multiple times. She refused. It’s simple.”

HuffPost requested a replica of the Capitol Police report on Rahman’s arrest, however was informed they aren’t accessible to the general public.

Rahman’s lawyer, Jessica Gingold of the MacArthur Justice Center, mentioned it’s “unprecedented” for somebody to be ejected from a State of the Union handle for standing up silently, by no means thoughts being criminally charged for it. The cost can include as much as six months in jail. They’re hoping to get the case tossed earlier than Rahman’s listening to takes place.

“Our reading of the statute, we’re assuming it’s the part about uttering ‘loud, threatening or abusive language,’ or engaging in ‘disorderly or disruptive conduct,’” Gingold mentioned of the D.C. code. “She did none of that. She stood up.”

She famous “many other people” have been outspoken in previous State of the Unions, and for some purpose, “Aliya is a uniquely situated person, the only one charged with this kind of offense.”

“Our strong belief is this should be dismissed,” Gingold mentioned.

Omar, too, condemned law enforcement officials’ therapy of Rahman.

“The heavy-handed response to a peaceful guest sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy,” the Minnesota congresswoman mentioned on social media. “I am calling for a full explanation of why this arrest occurred.”