A man was in custody Tuesday night after spray Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., with an unknown substance at a town hall in Minneapolis.
Anthony J. Kazmierczak, 55, was taken into custody after spraying the congresswoman, per Mediaite.
In her speech, Omar called for the resignation or impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after federal officials shot and killed two Americans in the city this month.
Minneapolis mother Renee Good, 37, was shot and killed by an ICE agent earlier this month; Alex Pretti was also shot and killed by federal officers amid a mass deployment crackdown Saturday.
On Tuesday, Omar was speaking as a man went up to her podium and allegedly shot a liquid at her before he was apprehended.
Watch:
“We will continue. This f***ing asshole is not getting away with this,” Omar was heard saying in the video.
Omar continued the news conference and told her team she needed 10 more minutes to speak to the crowd. One colleague told her that what she was sprayed with smelled “terrible.”
This was Omar’s first in-person town hall of 2026 in Minneapolis.
Capitol Police released a statement about the incident.
“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 grateful for the rapid response of onsite security and our local law enforcement partners,” police said. “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.”
Omar posted about the incident on X.
“I’m 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.”
“Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong,” she added.
