The Justice Department charged a man accused of approaching Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) at a Minneapolis town hall this week and spraying her with a liquid from a syringe.
Anthony Kazmierczak faces a count alleging that he “forcibly assaulted, opposed, impeded, intimidated an officer and employee of the United States” as Omar was performing her official duties as a member of Congress, according to a criminal complaint filed this week. A charge of assaulting or impeding a federal employee is a misdemeanor count punishable by up to a year in jail.
According to an affidavit from an FBI special agent involved in the case, Omar had said, “the liquid stained her clothes, and may have reached her face and right eye.” Hazmat specialists identified the liquid as water and apple cider vinegar. The substance has been sent to a state laboratory for more testing.
A “close associate of Kazmierczak” told investigators in an interview this week, according to the affidavit, that several years ago, he heard Kazmierczak say of Omar: “Somebody should kill that b—-.”
Representatives for Omar and the Justice Department did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment.
Tuesday’s attack occurred while Omar, whose district includes Minneapolis, was speaking out against the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents last week amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown on Minnesota. Omar called for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, who oversees that federal agency, to resign or face impeachment.
After Omar said that, a man in the front row rose from his seat, stumbled toward the congresswoman and shouted something unintelligible while aiming a syringe at her, according to a live stream of the event. The live stream showed the man being tackled to the ground and taken away by security.
The suspect, later identified as Kazmierczak, was immediately arrested and booked into Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of third-degree assault, police said.
Omar has sought to connect Trump’s rhetoric to the attack, saying at a news conference on Wednesday that “every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket.”
Trump has, in recent months, used racist and dehumanizing rhetoric to attack Somali immigrants, often singling out Omar, a Somali American and immigrant. After the town hall, the president told ABC News that he hadn’t seen video of the incident but accused Omar, without citing any evidence, of potentially staging the attack.
“I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud,” Trump said. “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”
Niha Masih, Amy B Wang and Alec Dent contributed to this report.
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