Indian-American MAGA supporter and Trump loyalist Mehek Cooke said she was “attacked” while conducting a fraud investigation in Ohio in an incident captured on video.In a post on X, Cooke shared a nearly 8-minute clip of the confrontation and wrote: “Day 1 into our Columbus, Ohio fraud investigation. Nothing to see here except me being attacked.”Cooke is an Indian-born lawyer, Republican consultant and conservative commentator who has been vocal about alleged Medicaid fraud in Ohio.The video shows Cooke and a companion approaching a home health care office to ask questions about services. Staff initially refused to respond, and the encounter escalated when a group of men confronted the investigators.“What are you guys doing here?” one man asked. Cooke replied, “I’m asking about Home Health Care Services.” The men then accused her of spreading false information about the Somali community. One said, “You are from India. You aren’t a white person,” and added, “Because your last name is Cooke doesn’t mean that you’re white. You’re from India and you just spread a lot of BS.” Cooke repeatedly denied the accusations, saying, “We aren’t coming here to harass anyone,” and ensured that she was asking questions about fraud and not targeting any community. “We actually talked to the agency and then also talked about home health care,” she said, while pointing out that there are 34 home health care businesses in the building and that her team had visited each one.The video shows the confrontation continuing with overlapping arguments. Cooke tried calm down the situation and said: “We are peacefully here,” and encouraged the men to watch her previous videos, which she said showed respectful interactions with members of the Somali community.Eventually, Cooke and her companion left the scene without things getting worse.Later, Cooke said, replying to her own post: “What kind of business responds to questions about their services with intimidation?”
