A poster linking US congresswoman Ilhan Omar to the 9/11 attacks has been condemned by Ms Omar and her colleagues.
The poster, displayed outside the chamber of the West Virginia House of Delegates at a 'WV GOP Day' Friday, showed an image of the burning World Trade Center in New York, juxtaposed with a picture of Ms Omar.
The image bore the words: "Never forget - you said" and "I am the proof - you have forgotten."
Ilhan Omar, one the first Muslim congresswomen ever elected, said the poster encouraged threats of violence against her.
The poster linking Ilhan Omar to the 9/11 attacks. Source: Twitter
"(It's an) anti-Muslim display likening me to a terrorist," she said.
Fellow West Virginia Republicans said they did not support hate speech and had told the exhibitor to remove the poster.
Who was responsible?
It was not immediately clear who was behind the poster.
The poster of Omar was next to a poster for ACT for America, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a rights group, .
But in a , ACT for America said it had nothing to do with the poster of Omar and had a "zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination".
"While we find many of the views and actions of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to be reprehensible, the display in the Capitol rotunda would have never been approved or endorsed by our National Office," the statement read.
It's believed ACT for America's reference to her views included Ms Omar's tweets implying US lawmakers only supported Israel because of lobby money.
Ms Omar apologised for those comments last month.
"Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes," Omar wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.
Backlash
U.S media reported that heated arguments erupted in the state legislature after Democrats protested about the poster of Ms Omar.
In one case, a lawmaker got so angry that he kicked a door open, resulting in injury to a doorkeeper, according to reports.
The West Virginia House of Delegates Anne Lieberman also resigned after she was accused in the House of making an Islamophobic remark.
Ms Lieberman denied that in a statement.
