This poster is in your Capitol on a booth sponsored by @WVGOP “When someone shows you who they are, believe them” pic.twitter.com/4k566ztHWo — (((Mike Pushkin))) (@pushkinforhouse) March 1, 2019

A Republican event in the West Virginia state capitol Friday sparked controversy as “WVGOP Day” sponsored by the state Republican Party included an Islamophobic display linking one of the first Muslim congresswoman in U.S. history to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The poster displayed in the capitol rotunda depicted newly elected Democratic congresswoman Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota underneath the twin towers burning on Sept. 11th with the caption “’Never forget’ — You said… I am the proof you have forgotten.”

The poster sparked a furor in the capitol and “caused the resignation of at least one staff member and left another reportedly injured when things got physical as the altercation spilled into the chamber of the West Virginia House of Delegates,” the Washington Post reports. “Photos of the poster showed it next to a placard promoting ACT for America, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated an anti-Muslim hate group.” ACT for America said on Twitter that they were not responsible for the display that led to the resignation of Sergeant at Arms Anne Lieberman, who Democratic legislators said called all Muslims “terrorists” during the chaotic aftermath.

No wonder why I am on the “Hitlist” of a domestic terrorist and “Assassinate Ilhan Omar” is written on my local gas stations.



Look no further, the GOP's anti-Muslim display likening me to a terrorist rocks in state capitols and no one is condemning them! https://t.co/0ouCaloWqh — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 1, 2019

Omar condemned the scurrilous association, but Democratic member of the House of Delegates Mike Pushkin said instead of condemning the poster, Republicans, which are the majority in the West Virginia statehouse, took to the house floor to emphasize the importance of free speech and the First Amendment in the wake of the incident.