The woman accused of spitting on the former top prosecutor in D.C. has been arrested and charged with federal assault.
After allegedly spitting on Ed Martin Jr.—the former interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.—during an interview with right-wing outlet Newsmax, Emily Gabriella Sommer, 32, was arrested and charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday with one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding a government official, which could land her a maximum of eight years in prison.
After he served in the role on an interim basis, President Donald Trump nominated Martin as the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., before withdrawing the nomination amid GOP pushback and selecting Fox News host Jeanine Pirro instead.
According to the complaint, Martin was in the middle of a video interview with Newsmax on May 9 when Sommer approached him, yelling, “Who in the f— are you?”
“You are Ed Martin,” she concluded, coming into frame before then spitting on his shoulder.
“You are a disgusting man,” she continued. “F— you, Ed Martin. My name is Emily Gabriella Sommer, and you are served.”
Newsmax’s The Briefing anchor Ed Henry called Sommer a “crazed leftist.”
The incident took place hours after Trump announced that he would withdraw Martin’s nomination to continue acting as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, instead replacing him with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro.
Martin’s nomination was plagued by controversy surrounding comments he made praising a Nazi sympathizer and for appearing on Russian state media more than 150 times. He failed to garner the endorsement of key Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who didn’t approve of Martin’s role in defending Jan. 6 rioters in court. Martin also said in a speech hours before the Capitol attack that “die-hard true Americans” must work until their “last breath” to “stop the steal.”
But the president didn’t abandon his loyalist, instead naming him director of the Weaponization Working Group at the DOJ, which is tasked with “root[ing] out corruption and weaponization” of the department by former Biden administration officials.
As the new “weaponization czar,” Martin announced last week that if there isn’t enough evidence to charge officials he thinks are guilty, he will simply name and shame them.
“If they can be charged, we’ll charge them,” he said. “But if they can’t be charged, we will name them. And we will name them, and in a culture that respects shame, they should be people that are ashamed.”
DOJ investigators have identified an X account they said belongs to Sommers in which the owner took credit for the alleged assault, posting multiple times on the day it occurred.
“ED, that was me that spit in your face today in front of your not USDC for D.C. Courthouse, that absolutely definitely spit in your face on camera,” one post read.
“Hi, hello. A pleasure to hawk a dehydrated, pithy white foam spit into your face. I only apologize that this city left me so dehydrated and unable to get water that I couldn’t produce more to stain and drip down your face,” another read.
ED, that was me that spit in your face today in front of your not USDC for D.C. Courthouse, that absolutely definitely spit in your face on camera. Hi, hello. A pleasure to hawk a dehydrated, pithy white foam spit into your face. I only apologize that this city left me so…
— lefttits (@EmilyGabriellaS) May 8, 2025
The account also said Martin should “enjoy that spit on your $6k lapel,” which the account said was meant “every bit for your disgusting pig-headed swine blooded white privileged racist, misogynist, and nepotism hire.”
That was meant exactly and every bit for your disgusting pig-headed swine blooded white privileged racist, misogynist, and nepotism hire. That now can’t even hold that down. LOL. Bye, enjoy that spit on your $6k lapel, your other white bitch CRACKER. I’ll find that footage and…
— lefttits (@EmilyGabriellaS) May 8, 2025
According to the Associated Press, a federal magistrate judge ordered that Sommer be released from custody after causing multiple disruptions during her first court appearance, for which she later apologized.
U.S. Marshals Service deputies had to allegedly carry her out of the courtroom after one of Sommer’s outbursts caused the hearing to be suspended. She was also brought into the courtroom in shackles and handcuffs.
The post DOJ Charges Woman With Federal Assault for Spitting on Ed Martin appeared first on The Daily Beast.
