BY CLINT COMBS
Four days after Don Samuels posted on Twitter that, “no one sees any end worth pursuing with political violence,” in condemnation against an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, his campaign released an ad featuring a heads Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on a missing person’s poster. The ad joyfully attacked Omar as missing on votes against the bipartisan infrastructure bill (even though she was a present no-vote).
“Ilhan Omar has gone missing on the issues that matter most for us,” the campaign ad narrates.
While Samuels’s social media post condemning political violence in Butler, Pa. was largely ignored with 14 retweets and 51 likes (as of this writing), his campaign ad depicting Rep. Omar as a missing person garnered 900 retweets and was seen over 95,000 times.
Samuels’s campaign was referring to Omar’s no-vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill that she defended at a town hall as a bargaining chip for the Inflation Reduction Act (a law that made historic investments in climate change). Omar described her no-vote as, “a piece of legislation that was part of the Build Back Better plan that we have.”
“I think if all of the House Democrats put up a vote for the infrastructure bill, we would not have the Inflation Reduction Act, which has created so many investments and has actually become the cornerstone legislation for the president,” Omar said.
This is precisely the type of legislation that Don Samuels and his former billionaire benefactor donor, Harlan Crow, exploited by shutting down all traffic from Target to US Bank Arena just to film this ad.
After a campaign rally where a gunman fired his rifle killing firefighter Corey Comperatore, Samuels reposted Barack Obama’s tweet : “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our Democracy.” The former president, who authorized airstrikes that killed civilians in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia. added that we should “use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.”
Not surprisingly, after the events in Butler, Pa., Samuels seemed quite proud of the ad, tweeting: “ While Rep. Omar and I agree on numerous policy positions, I’m running for Congress because I believe at this moment we must turn away from rage, division, and self-promotion that has become her trademark.”
It should go without saying that it is fair game to scrutinize Omar’s voting record, as a lawmaker pushing ambitious policy. There’s also nothing wrong with imagining a world without assassination attempts, even against politicians who openly promote violence at campaign events.
Activists and survivors of sexual violence, particularly those who had family members killed by stalkers, told reporters that depicting people on missing posters triggered past trauma.
“Don has been following the textbook abuser playbook by calling out Ilhan as not attractive enough, not cute enough, and then featuring her on a missing poster,” Asma Mohammed Executive Director of Reviving Sisterhood said.
“There is mudslinging in politics. I know that. And then there’s complete dehumanization of women that leads to gender-based violence,” Mohammed added. “Men like Don don’t want safe places for us.”
Sue Goodstar from Camp Nenookaasi was reminded that her greatest fear was that people would take advantage of her vulnerabilities. And all of a sudden, her goodwill in helping those unhoused seemed to crumble.
“What Don Samuels did was the most disgusting thing I ever saw. It was beyond disgusting actually,” Goodstar said. “When I saw that ad, it enraged me. I guess you could almost say I was ready to throw a shoe at the TV.”
“This is what a missing persons poster looks like,” Goodstar said holding up a poster holding up a poster of Kateri Mishow, an Indigenous woman who was last seen wearing a blue jean jacket and pants and an oversize black leather coat in 2007.
Mishow’s name is spelled out on a mural on the front wall of the Little Earth Community Center.
In 2020, at least 9,575 Indigenous people were reported missing according to data from the U.S. National Crime Information Center.
“Kateri is a friend of mine, and she’s been missing for 17 years,” said Goodstar.
Lakeisha Lee founded the Brittany Clarify Foundation, an organization that runs Brittany’s Place, a shelter for victims of sex trafficking.
“A political ad putting anyone’s face on a missing poster, in 2024, is uncalled for,” said Lee. “My sister was murdered in 2013. On June 29th she would have been 30 years old. She was murdered and put in a car here in Minnesota.”
“It’s not fair and it’s not right for white supremacy, because that is what this is the root of, to be able to do these kinds of things to people,” said Toshira Garraway Allen founder of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence. Her fiancé, Justin Teigen went missing in 2009. Teigen’s body was found in a dumpster with his skull cracked in half.
“This is mocking to the families who have actually endured,” said Allen. “This is disrespectful to the families of those who experienced their loved ones being missing.”
Rep. Omar meanwhile wants U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to create a federal office to help solve the many cases of missing and murdered women and girls.
“We’ve been focused on following the leadership of some of our legislatures here in Minnesota who established an Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls and trying to create a national office with the Department of Justice that hopefully will work across the 50 states and territories,” Omar said.
Omar added that, “the reason that we are focused on a federal level, is that while Black women and girls make up 15 percent of the female population of this country, they make up nearly 34 percent of women reported missing in 2020.”
Samuels’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
This is not the first time Samuels has mocked those missing or dead. Issac Childress III went on a bike ride led by Don Samuels and his wife, Sondra Samuels. Samuels allowed Childress to dip his feet in the water before the Mississippi River’s strong current swept away the 6-year-old child. His body was found two days later. Sondra Samuel’s insurance company agreed to pay $301,000 in what Hennepin County records described as a wrongful death settlement.
“Who is @Ilhan’s primary challenger?” Briana Rose Lee tweeted. “A man with such poor judgement that he literally is the person responsible for a child drowning and dying while he watched from shore.”
Rose Lee asked, “If you can’t trust him to babysit, how can you trust him with an entire district?”
“Can’t swim, but can govern,” Samuels replied.
Bipartisan calls to condemn political violence seem a little contrived. Samuels predictable rush to join the chorus is in bad faith considering his past behavior. Here’s another typical mock on social media:
“I hope Ilhan Omar wins. My niece can’t see her son anymore because of your WIFE,” Angela Madison posted on Facebook. “We had to bury him because of her negligence.”
Samuels, always the gentleman, responded with an avatar of his hands shaped into a heart.
