Decorated US Vet, Police Officer Considering 2020 Challenge to Ilhan Omar
Chris Kelley has walked a beat. He’s served his nation with the Army and Army Reserves, collecting 11 medals for his service. Now he’s ready to take on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar in Minnesota’s Fifth District in next year’s congressional election.
Kelley is a 20-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department who served three tours of duty in Iraq with the Army, once during Operation Desert Storm and twice during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He began thinking of running for Congress this spring, after Omar seemed to trivialize the Sept. 11 attacks.
In March, the freshman congresswoman was the featured speaker at a Council on American-Islamic Relations event in Los Angeles. During her speech, Omar complained about the plight of Muslims in America.
“For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I’m tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it,” she said then, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties,” she said.
The comment became a major sensation in April after the New York Post used Omar’s comment that “some people did something” as part of its front page.
“CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.”
–Rep @IlhanMN, March, 2019 pic.twitter.com/dxLkNSiqr2— Larry Elder (@larryelder) April 11, 2019
Kelley said the comment made him realize he needed to act.
“September 11 was a terrible loss of life, not just for police officers and firefighters and other first responders, but 3,000 people and non-combatants died, and to be dismissive of that was an outrage. I could sit and complain or I could do something about it,” Kelley told Fox News.
“I believe I can be a positive voice in standing up for people in our country, and for our first responders and the people every day on the frontlines,” he said.
Kelley said Omar has left the people of her district behind in her quest for celebrity.
“There seems to be a theme to some of the current politicians who are being overly vocal: let’s attack the people who do the jobs, yet they won’t do theirs,” he said, according to the Duluth News Tribune.
“As former military, I am here to serve and not further my status. I want to do a good job for the people I represent and I don’t have a personal agenda. I’m passionate about service and I just want to be able to continue that,” he said.
Kelley, 49, tried to capture the GOP endorsement for the state Senate in 2016 and failed. This time, he will run as an Independent.
Fox 9 – TV coverage of the Chris Kelley announcement for CD5.
“I have spent my entire adult life in public service; I know it, I feel it, I live it every day.”https://t.co/6lllqpWxsj
— Independence-Alliance Party (@IndyMN) July 29, 2019
The contrast between his positions and Omar’s is stark.
“Immigration is a big issue right now. I believe in having a secure border; if you don’t have a country you don’t have a border and our border agents are doing a great job, but they are being overwhelmed and Congress isn’t giving them the tools they need,” he said.
Kelley said he wants to bring people together to help those in need.
“I would also like to see a pathway to citizenship for those under DACA; they couldn’t help they were brought here and need a shot to be able to stay here,” he said, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that allows some people brought to the country illegally as children to be deferred from deportation.
Kelley plans to run “a positive fact-based campaign.”
“I won’t be bringing in controversy and scandal. I will be bringing firsthand knowledge of the things that I know are going on in the community as an officer. I see a lot every day – the homelessness, the opioid crisis; I want to bring these things to the forefront and put some ideas on the table on how to deal with them,” Kelley said.
“I want to do anything I can to make people’s lives better; I just want to sit and listen to people and make some positive change.”
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