A man charged at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and sprayed her with an unknown substance from a plastic syringe as she spoke at a town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
Police arrested Anthony Kazmierczak for suspicion of third-degree assault after video from the event appears to show him lunging at Omar.
Moments before the attack, the far-left member of the “Squad” in the U.S. House of Representatives said that Kristi Noem, U.S. secretary of homeland security, “must resign or face impeachment.”
Kazmierczak appeared to shout at the congresswoman as he sprayed the contents of the syringe before being subdued. An attendee appeared to suggest that Omar change her clothes before continuing to speak due to a foul smell from the substance.
U.S. Capitol Police told JNS that it is working with local and federal law enforcement to pursue additional charges against Kazmierczak.
“A man is in custody after he decided to assault a member of Congress—an unacceptable decision that will be met with swift justice,” Capitol Police told JNS. “We are now working with our federal partners to see that this man faces the most serious charges possible to deter this kind of violence in our society.”
Omar confirmed on Tuesday that she was unharmed in the attack.
“I’m OK. I’m a survivor, so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” Omar wrote. “I don’t let bullies win.”
JNS sought comment from the Minneapolis Police Department.
Kazmierczak’s motive in the alleged assault is unknown, but the New York Post reported that he has posted images supporting U.S. President Donald Trump on social media.
Trump and Omar have repeatedly clashed in recent weeks over the Minnesota public services fraud scandal that has centered on the state’s Somali community and over federal immigration enforcement, including the shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday of Alex Pretti by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“There is $19 billion in Minnesota Somalia fraud,” Trump stated on Jan. 19. He added that the congresswoman, whose name he spelled “Illhan,” is “a constant complainer who hates the United States of America” and “knows everything there is to know.”
“She should be in jail or even a worse punishment, sent back to Somalia, considered one of the absolutely worst countries in the world,” Trump said of the Somalia-born congresswoman. “She could help to make Somalia great again.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), one of Omar’s closest political allies in the so-called “squad” of left-wing House progressives, blamed Trump and his administration for the assault.
“It is not a coincidence that after days of President Trump and Vice President Vance putting Rep. Omar in their crosshairs with slanderous public attacks, she gets assaulted at her town hall,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “If they want leaders to take down the temp, they need to look in the mirror.”
‘Rising violence in American political life’
In an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Trump said that he didn’t “have to bother” watching video of the incident and suggested that Omar staged the assault.
“She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” Trump said. “I think she’s a fraud.”
Omar has been one of Israel’s most vocal critics in the House, accusing the Jewish state of genocide, and has repeatedly been accused of engaging in antisemitic tropes, including a 2019 social media post in which she said that U.S. support for Israel was motivated by money.
The American Jewish Committee condemned the attack on Omar on Wednesday while alluding to the disagreements she has had with Jewish and pro-Israel groups.
“This attack is illustrative of broader lack of civility, increased polarization and rising violence in American political life,” AJC stated. “We must stand firm in our convictions that, despite our differences, political violence can have no place in American politics.”
