Ilhan Omar's sister skips book tour event amid week of chaos following raid on progressive's DC home
Author Sahra Noor Cancels Rochester Book‑Tour Stop Over “Family Emergency”
Sahra Noor, the author of Salt in the Snow: A Somali Immigrant Story and the older sister of Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, did not attend a scheduled book‑tour event at the University of Minnesota Rochester this week. According to a statement from Garden Party Books, the venue’s local partner, the event was cancelled because of a “family emergency.”
The University of Minnesota Rochester’s Intercultural Student Center had posted a flyer on the bookstore’s Facebook page announcing Noor’s appearance for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Fox News Digital had RSVP’d via a QR code on the flyer and found the space empty when they arrived, with no notice of a change of date or location.
Garden Party Books told reporters that the cancellation was due to the emergency and that the event would not be rescheduled at that time. The bookstore, the university’s bookstores, and the Rochester Public Library had all listed themselves as “proud supporters” of the event.
Noor, who immigrated to the United States as a refugee with her family in the 1990s, is currently living in Nairobi, Kenya, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is on a worldwide book‑tour circuit promoting her memoir, which officially launched in Nairobi on August 13, 2026, and which has since been featured in events in Cape Town, Minneapolis, St. Paul and is scheduled for the Somali Community Cultural Innovation Hub in Seattle on October 23.
The book’s promotion coincides with the heightened scrutiny surrounding Rep. Omar, whose home was searched by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Monday morning in connection with a federal probe into potential immigration fraud. Omar’s husband has said he has “no concerns” amid the investigation, and the congresswoman has been silent in public since the raid. The investigation also involves a separate inquiry into her financial disclosures.
While Noor was subpoenaed in relation to the immigration inquiry that also covers her sister, no statement has been released from her side. Fox News Digital has not yet received a comment.
The cancellation of the Rochester appearance comes amid speculation that Omar might have left the country after the raid, a claim the congresswoman’s husband dismissed in an interview on Wednesday. The raid, which began at about 6:00 a.m., involved the seizure of Omar’s phone, passport and computers, and the search has been described by the representative as “an outrageous abuse of power.”
As Noor’s next stop is slated for Seattle in late October, the author’s supporters will have to wait for a new date to hear her speak at the University of Minnesota Rochester. The University and its partners have not announced any alternative arrangements.
