Did Ilhan Omar tweet “they reap what they sow” after Notre Dame fire? Fact Check

Claims are spreading on social media that claim US Representative Ilhan Omar tweeted the message “they reap what they sow” in response to the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral.

FALSE

Omar was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and was the first Muslim (along with Rashida Tlaib) woman to serve in Congress, and also the first naturalised citizen from African to be elected to Congress.

In the hours after a large fire started in the Notre Dame Cathedral on April 15th as renovation works were taking place, the below screenshot of an apparent tweet made by Omar began spreading on Twitter and other social media websites.

They reap what they sow #NotreDame

However, the tweet is fake. The tweet does not appear on Omar’s Twitter feed and online archive tools (which can record tweets that are subsequently removed or deleted) also have no record of this tweet.

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Screenshots of fake tweets are particularly popular hoaxes online because there are a number of online tools that allow anyone to create authentic looking tweets from any other Twitter user.

There have been a number of hoaxes and misinformation spreading online that aim to blame terrorism or Muslims on the fire at Notre Dame, though at the time of writing, authorities have claimed the fire was most likely the result of an accident, most likely because of renovation work being carried out at the time the fire broke out.

For more hoaxes and conspiracies about the Notre Dame fire, read our article here.