Congresswoman Ilhan Omar sprayed with unknown substance at Minneapolis town hall | Ilhan Omar
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was sprayed with an unidentified substance by a man with a syringe as she held her first in-person town hall of the year in Minneapolis on Tuesday, during which she called for the “complete” abolition of ICE and for DHS secretary Kristi Noem to resign.
Omar had only been speaking for a few minutes when a man in the audience stood up and started yelling while spraying him with liquid. Those who attended the meeting said the liquid had an acidic odor.
Omar walked towards the man after the alleged attack, but the man was then quickly tackled to the ground by a security guard. People at the North Minneapolis community center gasped as the scene unfolded.
Some, like Minneapolis councilwoman LaTrisha Vetaw, implored Omar to finish early to inspect City Hall because of concerns for her safety from the unidentified liquid. Ömer refused to stop. “Ten minutes, I beg you… please don’t let them do the show,” he told the security team.
Applause rang out as the attacker was neutralized and taken out of the hall. “The truth that people like this ugly man don’t understand is that we are strong in Minnesota,” the congressman said.
“I learned at a young age not to give in to threats.”
The man was later arrested and booked into the Hennepin County Jail on a charge of third-degree assault, and medical examiners were called to the scene, Minneapolis police spokesman Trevor Folke said. Jail records identify the man as 55-year-old Anthony James Kazmierczak.
As she left city hall, Omar told reporters: “I survived the war. And I will definitely survive the intimidation and anything these people think they can throw at me, because that’s how I was built.”
She later shared on social media that she was fine, adding: “I don’t let bullies win. I’m grateful to my incredible voters who rallied behind me.”
Omar is among a wave of Democratic politicians reacting with anger and dismay to Saturday’s shooting of 37-year-old VA nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the second fatal shooting of a U.S. civilian by federal law enforcement.
The deadly shootings resulted in calls for Noem to resign from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned Tuesday’s attack on Omar as “unacceptable” and wrote on social media: “We cannot agree without putting people at risk.”
Texas Democratic representative Jasmine Crockett said she was “disgusted” and “outraged” in a social media post: don’t write: “Let’s be clear: non-stop hate and dangerous rhetoric [Donald] “Trump and his allies have incited this type of violence.” Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace said she was “deeply disturbed” by the news. “No matter how strongly I disagree with his rhetoric (and I do), no elected official should have to face physical attacks. “This is not who we are,” he wrote. a post on xalong with a video of the attack.
Omar has been a long-time political target of the US president, who has renewed xenophobic attacks in recent months, calling for her to be “sent back to Somalia” on the Truth Social network. He came to the United States as a refugee at age 12 and became a citizen more than 25 years ago.
Last month, Omar told the Guardian she had received almost no death threats during Joe Biden’s four years as president. “They are now backed up and so there is a clear correlation between them. [Trump’s] “The presidency and the political violence we see and the political danger that many members of Congress and elected officials across the country feel,” he said.
US Capitol police (USCP) released a statement saying the alleged attack on Omar was “an unacceptable decision that will be met with swift justice.” “We are now working with our federal partners to see that this man faces the most serious charges possible to deter this type of violence in our community.”
According to the latest dataUSCP investigated 14,938 “statements, behaviors, and communications” directed at members of Congress, their families, and staff in 2025; This is the third year in a row that this number continues to increase.
