I Tweeted Chicago Protesters Were 'Ready' for Harris. Then, I Got the Call From the FBI

My post would not have been considered threatening if I were not Muslim or Palestinian. The pro-Harris partisans who reported the post know that.

CHICAGO – On Friday morning, I got a voicemail from the FBI. When my phone rang and Apple registered it as the “US Government,” I knew exactly who it would be. For the past week, Kamala Harris supporters have been bombarding my social media pages with proud declarations that they’d reported me to the federal government as well as my employer for “threatening the Vice President.” 

The post that solicited the harassment was about protests. After Harris silenced anti-genocide protesters in Michigan, I said “Oh Kamala is NOT ready for Chicago. But don’t worry; we’re ready for her,” referencing the upcoming Democratic National Convention, where over 200 groups have promised to march on the DNC to protest against the party’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its right-wing turn on immigration, police brutality, and more. 

Immediately, Harris-followers labeled the post as dangerous and threatening and the slew of harassment began. I followed the post with another saying her cruel reaction to protesters would energize street protests. “You know damn well I was talking about protests,” I chided one of the accounts that had led the charge. But still, the K-Hive marched on. Supporters even took to my email and my Instagram to threaten me or to let me know I’d been reported. 

As a Muslim, I am no stranger to FBI surveillance. When I was a teenager, my mother worked for an Islamic philanthropic organization that delivered humanitarian aid to orphans and refugees worldwide. It was one of at least nine Muslim philanthropic groups closed by the FBI in the early 2000s, a process the American Civil Liberties Union has called a “chilling effect” lacking due process.