Aliya Rahman, a disabled woman with autism from Minneapolis who was severely injured by President Donald Trump's immigration forces in January, claimed on Thursday that she was targeted for removal from the president's State of the Union address.
Rahman attended the address as a guest of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who claimed Rahman was "aggressively handled" while she was escorted out of the House chambers. Rahman was later charged with "unlawful conduct" for allegedly standing in silent protest during the speech, a claim she denied during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday.
Rahman added that she wondered whether she was targeted for removal because she's spoken out against the Trump administration.
"I think you do have to ask that question, right?" Rahman said. "I can be kind of a cold, logical, autistic person sometimes, and what I am seeing is that the people to either side of me are standing up and not just standing up, but they're making noise. I was actually quiet. So if the issue is disruption, I'm not aware that anybody on the floor even knew I was standing up."
Rahman spoke out against the Trump administration during a hearing in early February about how Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers treated civilians in Minneapolis. She told the committee of all Democrats that the officers who dragged her from her car tore the rotator tendons in both of her shoulders, which prevented her from using the cane she needs for mobility.
She also described the horrific conditions inside the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis.
"The only thing I'm known for is giving testimony about what I saw inside the Whipple Center," Rahman said.