Ilhan Omar home raid, Haines attack: Inside rise in violence on officials

The federal raid on US congresswoman Ilhan Omar's home and a brutal vehicle attack on an Australian MP have put a spotlight on the rising threat of violence facing public officials around the world.

Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, said she has been forced to move out of her Washington, DC residence after federal agents carried out what the Justice Department described as a "judicially authorised search" of her apartment last week. The Somalia-born congresswoman, who has long faced death threats, said that with her address now public, staying was no longer safe. In January she was sprayed with an unknown substance while speaking at a rally calling for the abolition of US immigration enforcement.

Days later, Australian independent MP Helen Haines lost both her legs when she was deliberately run over in what police called a "targeted attack." Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the driver, identified as Brendan Nugent, reversed and rammed her again. A suspect has appeared in court.

Analysts say online abuse increasingly precedes physical attacks — and that women, especially women of colour in politics, bear the brunt of it. "It's very upsetting to see that more and more people in public life are paying a very high price," said Sofia Collignon of London's Mile End Institute of Research.

The trend is global and crosses party lines: a 2026 Armed Conflict Location & Event Data report records at least 13,900 incidents against local officials in 138 countries and territories over the past five years. In Britain, MPs Jo Cox and David Amess were murdered in 2016 and 2021, and this year a suspect was charged over a fatal attack on former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe.