91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Politics

Man charges at Rep. Ilhan Omar and sprays her with substance at town hall

By
Caitlin Yilek
Politics Reporter
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
Read Full Bio
Caitlin Yilek,
Joe Walsh
Senior Editor, Politics
Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston.
Read Full Bio
Joe Walsh

/ CBS News

A man sprayed Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar with an unknown liquid at a town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday, but she vowed not to be intimidated and declined to immediately leave the event to get checked out. 

The alleged perpetrator — whom local police identified as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak — was immediately apprehended and was booked into Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of third degree assault, the Minneapolis Police Department told CBS News. Police said Omar was not injured.

Investigators later said the liquid was determined to be apple cider vinegar and water.

Omar, a Democrat, was calling for the abolishment of ICE and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign when a man sitting in the front row rushed up to her and sprayed her with a substance while yelling at her. Local police said he used a syringe.

Security personnel grabbed the man, who was led out of the room in handcuffs, while other staff tried to get Omar to leave.

Omar refused, saying, "We will continue. These f***ing a**holes are not going to get away with it!"

"Here's the reality that people like this ugly man don't understand: We are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us," Omar said, before continuing to speak and take questions for almost 30 minutes.

US-POLITICS-OMAR-INCIDENT
A man is tackled after spraying an unknown substance at Rep. Ilhan Omar during a town hall in Minneapolis on Jan. 27. Octavio JONES /AFP via Getty Images

Someone in attendance said that whatever was sprayed "smells so bad" and urged Omar to "go get checked."

The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement: "Tonight, a man is in custody after he decided to assault a Member of Congress – an unacceptable decision that will be met with swift justice."

"We are now working with our federal partners to see this man faces the most serious charges possible to deter this kind of violence in our society," the agency continued.

Omar later that she's OK.

"I'm a survivor so this small agitator isn't going to intimidate me from doing my work," she wrote. "I don't let bullies win."

It is not clear whether Kazmierczak is represented by an attorney. Attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

anthony-kazmierczak-booking-photo.jpg
Anthony Kazmierczak is seen in in booking photo provided by the  Hennepin County Jail in Minnesota. Hennepin County (Minnesota) Jail

Omar, the first  elected to Congress, has    she has received, many of which have included racist or Islamophobic language.

The Congressional Black Caucus said in a statement, "We are outraged by this brazen attack on our colleague and relieved that Congresswoman Omar is safe. We thank the Minneapolis Police Department for their swift response and the apprehension of the individual responsible."

"There is absolutely no excuse for violence and intimidation in our politics," its statement continued. "Congresswoman Omar was faithfully executing her duties to her constituents, and despite being subjected to constant right-wing attacks, she continues to lead and represent Minnesota's 5th District with dignity and courage."

Earlier on Tuesday President Trump, who often criticizes Omar and Somali-Americans, said in a speech in Iowa that Somali-Americans "have to show that they can love our country. They have to be proud. Not like Ilhan Omar. ... This wise guy, you know, she's always talking about the Constitution — 'You know, provides me with the following. You know, the Constitution.' She comes from a country that's a disaster. It's probably — it's considered ... it's not even a country, OK? It barely has a government. I don't think it does. They're good at one thing: pirates. But they don't do that anymore."

Mr. Trump later  that he had not seen the video of the incident and suggested, without any evidence, that the congresswoman may have staged it, saying, "She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her."

When asked for clarification, the White House referred CBS News to the president's recent comments about Omar.

The incident at Omar's event comes during a tense period in Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by two Customs and Border Protection agents on Saturday, which prompted days of protests. 

Thousands of federal immigration agents have been deployed to the Twin Cities area since last month as part of a crackdown by the Trump administration that has drawn stiff criticism from Omar and other local politicians.

Omar is the second House Democrat to be physically confronted in recent days. In an unrelated incident, Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida said Saturday he was assaulted during an event at the Sundance Film Festival. Local police in Park City, Utah, alleged that a man "unlawfully entered a private party" and assaulted the congressman and one other person. He was arrested on charges of simple assault and aggravated burglary, police said.

Members of Congress have faced a significant uptick in threats in recent years. The U.S. Capitol Police it investigated 14,938 threats and concerning statements against lawmakers, their families and their staff last year, up from 9,474 in 2024 and 8,000 in 2023.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect that the U.S. Capitol Police investigated 9,474 threats in 2024.

Nikole Killion contributed to this report.

In:

© 2026 91³Ô¹ÏÍø. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=50747257b890e014813016b79ece0fb2'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });