Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks during a town hall in Minneapolis, where she was attacked with an unidentified substance
US Representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district Ilhan Omar, during a Townhall, was sprayed by an unidentified substance by a man, who was then tackled and restrained. The incident occurred amid rising tensions over federal immigration enforcement following the recent fatal shooting of a nurse and mother by federal agents in Minneapolis.The attacker, wearing a black jacket, was quickly subdued, as the crowd cheered. Witnesses reported seeing him spray something on Omar. The congresswoman continued the town hall after the man was removed from the premises.Just before the attack, Omar had called for the dismantling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and demanded Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s resignation. “ICE cannot be reformed,” she said during the meeting. Omar’s office issued a statement, revealing that the man was stopped and taken into custody. “During her town hall, an agitator tried to attack the Congresswoman by spraying an unknown substance with a syringe. Security and the Minneapolis Police Department quickly apprehended the individual. He is now in custody. The Congresswoman is okay. She continued with her town hall because she doesn’t let bullies win.” The incident follows recent criticism from President Donald Trump, who had targeted Omar earlier that day during a speech in Iowa. “They have to be proud, not like Ilhan Omar,” Trump told the crowd, adding that she “comes from a country that’s a disaster. So probably, it’s considered, I think — it’s not even a country.”Trump’s hostility toward Omar has intensified in recent months. During a December Cabinet meeting, he referred to her as “garbage” and extended the insult to “her friends.”Republican Representative Nancy Mace condemned the attack on social media platform X, saying, “I am deeply disturbed to learn that Rep. Ilhan Omar was attacked at a town hall today. Regardless of how vehemently I disagree with her rhetoric — and I do — no elected official should face physical attacks. This is not who we are.”The assault comes shortly after another incident where a man was arrested in Utah for allegedly punching Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost at the Sundance Film Festival while threatening deportation in Trump’s name.
