Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was sprayed with an unidentified substance by a man with a syringe on Tuesday as she gave her first in-person town hall event of the year in Minneapolis, during which she called for Ice to be abolished “for good” and Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem to resign.
Ms Omar had only been speaking for a few minutes when a man in the audience got up and began to shout, while spraying her with the liquid. People at the meeting said the liquid had an acidic smell.
Ms Omar walked toward the man after the alleged assault, but he was then swiftly tackled to the ground by a security guard. People inside the North Minneapolis community centre gasped as the scene unfolded.
Some, such as Minneapolis council member LaTrisha Vetaw, pleaded with Ms Omar to end the town hall early to get checked, due to concerns for her safety because of the unidentified liquid. Ms Omar refused to stop. “Ten minutes, I beg you … please don’t let them have the show,” she told the security team.
After the alleged attacker was subdued, there was applause from the room as he was escorted out. “Here is the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand, is that we are Minnesota strong,” the congresswoman said.
“I learned at a young age that you don’t give into threats.”
The man was then arrested and booked into Hennepin county jail for third-degree assault, and forensics were called to the scene, Minneapolis police spokesperson Trevor Folke said. Jail records identified the man as Anthony James Kazmierczak (55).
As she left the town hall, Ms Omar told reporters: “I’ve survived war. And I’m definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think they can throw at me, because I’m built that way.”
She later posted on social media that she was okay, adding: “I don’t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me.”
Ms Omar is among a wave of Democratic politicians to react with outrage and horror to the shooting on Saturday of nurse Alex Pretti (37), the second fatal shooting of a US civilian by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis.
The fatal shootings have resulted in calls from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers for Ms Noem to resign.
US president Donald Trump on Tuesday said Mr Pretti should not have been carrying a gun or fully loaded magazines, comments that put him at odds with gun rights groups and some Republicans.
Asked whether he agreed with administration officials who described Mr Pretti as a domestic terrorist, Mr Trump said: “I haven’t heard that, but certainly shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.”
Mr Trump, speaking to reporters at an Iowa restaurant, later added: “He had a gun. I don’t like that. He had two fully loaded magazines. That’s a lot of bad stuff. And despite that, I’d say that’s … very unfortunate.”
Gun rights groups, including the influential National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America, said Mr Pretti was legally carrying a concealed gun. Bystander video of Mr Pretti’s killing was widely shared, showing he never touched his gun before being shot and contradicting some Trump officials’ initial claims that he posed a threat to law enforcement.
“You absolutely can walk around with a gun, and you absolutely can peacefully protest while armed,” said Luis Valdes, a spokesman for the Gun Owners of America. “It’s an American historical tradition that dates all the way back to the Boston Tea Party.”
“We are not happy,” Mr Valdes said of Trump’s latest comments.
The National Rifle Association issued a statement on Tuesday evening after the president’s comments in Iowa.
“The NRA unequivocally believes that all law-abiding citizens have a right to keep and bear arms anywhere they have a legal right to be,” the group posted on X.
Gun rights groups are one of the Republican Party’s most loyal voting blocs. Such statements by Mr Trump and other administration officials have opened a rift ahead of midterm elections in November.
Mr Trump made his comments while greeting supporters at an Iowa restaurant before a scheduled speech on the economy. He said his border tsar, Tom Homan, had met Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and was expected to meet Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey later on Tuesday.
– Guardian/Reuters