U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are investigating two of their special agents for sharing and liking social media posts peddling conspiracy theories about Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.).
Homeland Security Investigations senior agent Leslie Derewonko reshared on LinkedIn a post and video that claimed Omar admitted to "taking terrorism classes."
"And this is what represents America?" Derewonko wrote in sharing the post, according to a screenshot taken by ABC News published on Saturday. Underneath in the comments section, the ICE agent continued: "Hell just make her the Director of National Security, obviously she not only took TERRORIST classes, she sat in class WITH THEM."
Derewonko added: "Here's a question to all you Intelligence Spooks types… WHO THE HELL VETTED HER TO COME INTO THIS COUNTRY, and better yet, WHO THE HELL VETTED HER AS A CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE?"
Jerry Templet, the second-in-command of Homeland Security Investigations in San Francisco, liked Derewonko's post, Buzzfeed confirmed on Thursday. Since then, both federal staffers have changed their LinkedIn profiles to distance their association with ICE on the professional networking platform.
Although ICE doesn't have a policy regulating their employees' social media presence, the agency confirmed they are investigating the posts to determine whether the agents breached the department's code of conduct.
"Social media content posted by employees on their personal platforms should not be considered representative of agency policies or positions. We are reviewing whether any of this particular content violated other agency policies," ICE spokesperson Richard Rocha said in a statement, according to Buzzfeed.
Omar, one of the first Muslim women to be elected to Congress, has faced severe criticism in recent months, mostly from conservatives.
Earlier this week, Congress formally condemned anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hatred after Omar made alleged anti-Semitic tropes for the second time since January, when she took office. Ahead of the House resolution to condemn her remarks, many Democrats were divided on how to reprimand Omar. Although some members defended her and argued that there should be no resolution, Democrat Gerry Connolly, who sits on Foreign Affairs Committee with the freshman congresswoman, told Newsweek that a repeat offense could result in Omar losing her committee seat.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
