A person sprayed Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar with an unknown liquid at a city corridor in Minneapolis on Tuesday, however she vowed to not be intimidated and declined to right away go away the occasion to get checked out.
The alleged perpetrator — whom native police recognized as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak — was instantly apprehended and was booked into Hennepin County Jail for third diploma assault, the Minneapolis Police Division advised CBS Information. Police stated Omar was not injured.
Hennepin County (Minnesota) Jail
Omar, a Democrat, was calling for the abolishment of ICE and for Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem to resign when a person sitting within the entrance row rushed as much as her and sprayed her with a substance whereas yelling at her. Native police stated he used a syringe.
Safety personnel grabbed the person, who was led out of the room in handcuffs, whereas different employees tried to get Omar to go away.
Omar refused, saying, “We’ll proceed. These f***ing a**holes should not going to get away with it!”
“This is the truth that individuals like this ugly man do not perceive: We’re Minnesota sturdy and we are going to keep resilient within the face of no matter they could throw at us,” Omar stated, earlier than persevering with to talk and take questions for nearly half-hour.
Octavio JONES /AFP through Getty Pictures 
Somebody in attendance stated that no matter was sprayed “smells so unhealthy” and urged Omar to “go get checked.”
The U.S. Capitol Police stated in a press release: “Tonight, a person is in custody after he determined to assault a Member of Congress – an unacceptable choice that might be met with swift justice.”
“We are actually working with our federal companions to see this man faces essentially the most critical prices attainable to discourage this sort of violence in our society,” the company continued.
Omar later posted on X that she’s OK.
“I am a survivor so this small agitator is not going to intimidate me from doing my work,” she wrote. “I do not let bullies win.”
It isn’t clear whether or not Kazmierczak is represented by an legal professional. Makes an attempt to achieve him for remark have been unsuccessful.
Earlier on Tuesday President Trump, who typically criticizes Omar and Somali-People, stated in a speech in Iowa that Somali-People “have to point out that they will love our nation. They must be proud. Not like Ilhan Omar. … This sensible man, , she’s at all times speaking in regards to the Structure – ‘You already know, offers me with the next. You already know, the Structure.’ She comes from a rustic that is a catastrophe. It is in all probability – it is thought of … it isn’t even a rustic, OK? It barely has a authorities. I do not assume it does. They’re good at one factor: pirates. However they do not try this anymore.”
The incident at Omar’s occasion comes throughout a tense interval in Minneapolis following the deadly capturing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by two Customs and Border Safety brokers on Saturday, which prompted days of protests.
Hundreds of federal immigration brokers have been deployed to the Twin Cities space since final month as a part of a crackdown by the Trump administration that has drawn stiff criticism from Omar and different native politicians.
Omar is the second Home Democrat to be bodily confronted in current days. In an unrelated incident, Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida stated Saturday he was assaulted throughout an occasion on the Sundance Movie Competition. Native police in Park Metropolis, Utah, alleged {that a} man “unlawfully entered a non-public celebration” and assaulted the congressman and one different individual. He was arrested on prices of easy assault and aggravated housebreaking, police stated.
Members of Congress have confronted a big uptick in threats in recent times. The U.S. Capitol Police says it investigated 14,938 threats and regarding statements towards lawmakers, their households and their employees final yr, up from 9,474 in 2024 and eight,000 in 2023.
Omar, the primary Somali-American elected to Congress, has spoken regularly in regards to the loss of life threats she has obtained, lots of which have included racist or Islamophobic language.
Editor’s Observe: This text has been up to date to replicate that the U.S. Capitol Police investigated 9,474 threats in 2024.
