Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., surfaced Friday at Karmel Mall, a sprawling Somali shopping center in Minneapolis, in one of her first public appearances since federal agents raided her Washington, D.C., home earlier this month.

The embattled congresswoman joined Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and several acquaintances for lunch at the commercial hub, which sits at the center of the city’s Somali community.

Her outing came less than two weeks after the Oct. 12 raid. Federal agents conducted the search as part of an investigation into possible immigration fraud involving paperwork submitted when Omar and her family came to the United States.

Omar has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. Still, the investigation has raised questions about her identity following a Justice Department court filing that identified her as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.”

Sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital that Ilhan Nur Said Elmi is Omar’s birth name. The Democrat has vehemently denied that claim.

During Friday’s visit, Omar appeared relaxed as she greeted supporters, posed for photographs and spoke with patrons. Security personnel watched over Omar and Ellison as they moved through the property.

Ilhan Omar enjoying herself at Karmel Mall in Minneapolis after casting her vote earlier today. https://t.co/NrNaqOkrU6

— abdirashid omar (@ghelle001) October 24, 2026

Before going to the mall, the two Democrats cast early ballots at a Minneapolis polling location. Mall owner Basim Sabri describes the property as the largest Somali shopping center in the world.

Fox News Digital received permission from Sabri to enter the property. The prominent Minneapolis real estate developer has longstanding connections to Omar and other local political figures.

The four-story complex contains roughly 900 vendors and bears little resemblance to a traditional American mall. Many merchants operate behind metal rolling doors resembling those used in storage facilities, raising the shutters upon arrival and keeping hours that vary between storefronts.

Businesses inside include Somali clothing stores, barbershops, travel agencies and companies specializing in international financial services. Some merchants sell prepaid electronic SIM cards for overseas communications, while money transfer companies advertise connections to Somalia, Kenya and other East African countries.

Somali is widely spoken inside the complex, where English frequently takes a back seat. In the dining area, Somali, Palestinian and American flags hang at equal heights beneath a blue ceiling decorated with a white star resembling Somalia’s national flag.

Sabri, who was born in Gaza before moving to the United States, described the mall and surrounding neighborhood as a distinctive enclave. “You are standing at the Karmel Mall, and the surrounding community next to us, and its referred to as [the] Islamic Peace Village by many other people as well,” Sabri told Fox News Digital in an interview outside his mall.

“Karmel Mall is the largest Somali mall in the world, and it’s also the largest mall in the city of Minneapolis,” Sabri said the complex gives immigrant entrepreneurs a place to establish businesses before moving into larger commercial spaces.

“It is kind of an incubator setting where many businesses start in here, and then many succeed and grow and move somewhere else, to a bigger space,” said Sabri.

Fox News Digital reported that outsiders carrying cameras drew scrutiny from security guards and patrons, despite the mall’s reputation as a busy commercial center. During an earlier visit, Sabri personally directed guards to let the outlet’s journalists move through the property.

The developer has also used his property to make political statements. In February 2024, he barred Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey from entering after Frey vetoed a City Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Sabri maintains close ties with Omar and knew her late father, though he declined to discuss their relationship in detail. He also owns several apartment buildings near the Lake Street property, many housing Somali residents, and described his rise from an impoverished childhood in the Middle East to building a substantial real estate portfolio.

The businessman boasted about his connections to Minneapolis politicians, repeatedly calling them “whores,” and helped arrange an interview with City Council Vice President Jamal Osman. Sabri also received a 33-month federal prison sentence in 2005 for bribing a Minneapolis public official and discussed serving time at the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Minnesota continues confronting massive public assistance fraud scandals involving numerous Somali American defendants. Sabri acknowledged the controversy but rejected claims that criminal conduct defines the wider community, saying, “You can see [the] Somalis not only integrating in the community, but also prospering.”

“Yes, there’s some crooks in every society … just like every other community,” he said. “But my experience is that Somalis are very, very intelligent and extremely hard-working people.”

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