The Associated Press reports:
A Republican state senator from North Dakota took to Facebook to post a long-debunked photo that claims to be Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar holding a weapon at an al-Qaida training camp.
The photo on the home page of Rep. Oley Larsen, of Minot, has been debunked by several sources since it appeared on social media this summer. It’s an Associated Press photo taken at a Mogadishu military training campus in 1978, before Omar was born.
Larsen also called Omar an “elected terrorist” in the comments section of his post. Rep. Omar said in a statement Monday evening, “Facebook’s unwillingness to crack down on hate speech and misinformation is not just threatening my life, but our democracy.”
It looks like the photo has been removed, likely by Larsen himself as critics are bombarding his page.
N.D. State Sen. Oley Larsen, R-Minot, is receiving backlash on social media after sharing a debunked image that claims to be U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., at an al-Qaida training camp. https://t.co/Pjneoh8rWT
— KFYR-TV (@KFYRTV) October 21, 2019
.@NDSenateGOP one of your unhinged colleagues, carrying the torch for ignorance & insanity. #OleyLarsen @NDGOP @ndgov. what’s called for here: censure? resignation? charges for libel or defamation? mental health services? all of the above.https://t.co/LNuAZIUieL
— Dennis Dougherty (@docrt925) October 22, 2019