In June 2025, rumors abounded that Isra Hirsi, daughter of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, had posted "death to the colonial empire" from Los Angeles to Rafah in Gaza on an Instagram story. Instagram stories are posts that disappear after 24 hours unless the accounts that post them highlight them on their profile page.
For example, X user End Wokeness shared a screen capture of the supposed Instagram story alongside a photograph of Hirsi with her mother Omar (archived):
As of this writing, the End Wokeness post had gained 10,000 and 660,000 views. The screen capture appeared on other X posts, including one by far-right political activist Laura Loomer (archived), who said Hirsi, who is Black, wanted "violence in the LA riots and calling for the end of Western Civilization." Another accused Hirsi of hating her own country, the U.S., and of wanting "a race war" (archived).
Further, Snopes users searched the website seeking to confirm the veracity of these claims. In addition, conservative news outlet The Daily Caller published a report making these same allegations.
However, due to the nature of Instagram stories and the fact that more than 24 hours had passed since Hirsi supposedly posted it, Snopes could not confirm she had indeed done so. We contacted her via Instagram direct messages to ask whether she had and we will update the story should she respond.
However, we were able to confirm that the Instagram story Hirsi allegedly reposted did exist. It was created by Instagram user @__public_library, whose bio gave a first name — Amanda — self-describing as a writer, care worker, mother and a "revert" — which is how some converts to Islam describe themselves.
The term "reversion" is sometimes preferred to the term "conversion," based on the belief that babies who are born with a Muslim nature and raised in other religions and cultures will return to their innate Muslim nature. Indeed, one of her stories on June 11, 2025, indicated @__public_library had "reverted" in September 2024:
(Instagram user @__public_library)
Many of her posts related to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a result of the Israel-Hamas war.
Indeed, on June 8, 2025, @__public_library posted a series of images with text and a song by Natalia Lafourcade titled "Hasta la Raíz" (archived). One of the images was the same that appeared in Hirsi's alleged Instagram story, showing children playing jump rope on a dirt road with the text: "From LA to Rafah, there is one common oppressor. Death to the colonial empire. Life for our children."
The post appeared to draw a parallel between the Israel-Hamas war and the confrontations between protesters in Los Angeles and Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the weekend of June 9, 2025.
Below the post, the user had written the following (emphasis ours):
I am the Granddaughter of Mexican migrants.
I am the daughter of an occupied land.
I am the mother of resistance.
I am both witness and the keeper of generational trauma.
This is a never-ending war.
All empires must end in flames.
From occupied "America" to occupied Palestine
We found no indication that Hirsi followed @__public_library, though it is not necessary to follow a public Instagram account to reshare one of their posts. Hirsi, who is Black and a Muslim, has also frequently posted in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, including on posts that aimed to share personal news. For example, she used the tag #FreePalestine in the post where she announced her graduation from Barnard College at Columbia University. The post also included a photo of her holding up a Palestinian flag on stage during the graduation ceremony (archived):
In April 2025, Hirsi said she had been suspended from Barnard College after taking part in a pro-Palestine protest on campus (archived):
As of this writing, there isn't enough evidence to determine whether Hirsi did or did not reshare @__public_library's Instagram story. We will update this article if and when Hirsi responds to our request for comment.