{"id":552671,"date":"2026-01-29T23:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/552671\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T23:49:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:49:19","slug":"man-who-squirted-vinegar-on-rep-ilhan-omar-is-charged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/552671\/","title":{"rendered":"Man who squirted vinegar on Rep. Ilhan Omar is charged"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The Justice Department has charged a man who squirted apple cider vinegar on Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar<\/a> at an event in Minneapolis, according to court papers made public Thursday. <\/p>\n

The man arrested for Tuesday\u2019s attack<\/a>, Anthony Kazmierczak, faces a charge of forcibly assaulting, opposing, impeding and intimidating Omar, according to a complaint filed in federal court.<\/p>\n

Authorities determined that the substance was water and apple cider vinegar, according to an affidavit. After Kazmierczak sprayed Omar with the liquid, he appeared to say, \u201cShe\u2019s not resigning. You\u2019re splitting Minnesotans apart,\u201d the affidavit says. Authorities also say that Kazmierczak told a close associate several years ago that \u201csomebody should kill\u201d Omar, court documents say. <\/p>\n

Kazmierczak appeared briefly in federal court Thursday afternoon. His attorney, Jean Brandl, told the judge her client was unmedicated at the time of the incident and has not had access to the medications he needs to treat Parkinson\u2019s disease and other serious conditions he suffers from.<\/p>\n

U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster ordered that Kazmierczak remain in custody and told officials he needs to see a nurse when he is transferred to the Sherburne County Jail.<\/p>\n

Kazmierczak also faces state charges in Hennepin County for terroristic threats and fifth-degree assault, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a disturbing assault on Rep. Omar, who is frequently the target of vilifying language by fellow elected officials and members of the public,\u201d Moriarty said. \u201cThe trust of our community in the federal government keeping politics out of public safety has been eroded by their actions. A state-level conviction is not subject to a presidential pardon now or in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attack came during a perilous political moment in Minneapolis, where two people have been fatally shot<\/a> by federal agents during the White House\u2019s aggressive immigration crackdown. <\/p>\n

Kazmierczak has a criminal history and has made online posts supportive of President Donald Trump, a Republican. <\/p>\n

Omar, a refugee from Somalia<\/a>, has long been a fixture of Trump\u2019s anti-immigrant rhetoric. After she was elected seven years ago, Trump said she should \u201cgo back\u201d to her country<\/a>. He recently described her as \u201cgarbage\u201d<\/a> and said she should be investigated. During a speech in Iowa earlier this week, shortly before Omar was attacked, he said immigrants need to be proud of the United States \u2014 \u201cnot like Ilhan Omar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omar blamed Trump on Wednesday for threats to her safety. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery 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,\u201d Omar told reporters. <\/p>\n

Trump accused Omar of staging the attack, telling ABC News, \u201cShe probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading Muslim civil rights group, praised federal prosecutors\u2019 decision to file charges against Kazmierczak.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome these federal charges for the attack on Representative Ilhan Omar as an important step toward accountability and justice,\u201d CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement. \u201cThe dangerous climate of dehumanization that inevitably leads to such violent acts puts public servants and entire communities at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kazmierczak was convicted of felony auto theft in 1989, has been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence and has had numerous traffic citations, Minnesota court records show. There are also indications he has had significant financial problems, including two bankruptcy filings.<\/p>\n

In social media posts, Kazmierczak criticized former President Joe Biden and referred to Democrats as \u201cangry and liars.\u201d Trump \u201cwants the US is stronger and more prosperous,\u201d he wrote. \u201cStop other countries from stealing from us.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another post, Kazmierczak asked, \u201cWhen will descendants of slaves pay restitution to Union soldiers\u2019 families for freeing them\/dying for them, and not sending them back to Africa?\u201d<\/p>\n

Threats against members of Congress have increased in recent years, peaking in 2021 following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters<\/a> before dipping slightly, only to climb again, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Capitol Police.<\/p>\n

Officials said they investigated nearly 15,000 \u201cconcerning statements, behaviors, and communications directed against Members of Congress, their families, staff, and the Capitol Complex\u201d in 2025.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporter R.J. Rico in Atlanta contributed.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow the AP\u2019s coverage of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ilhan-omar<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The Justice Department has charged a man who squirted apple cider vinegar on Democratic U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":552672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[242306,10762,356,69,242310,57,51,26974,4228,242307,82,2936,242309,17635,3663,3669,50,242308,80,2938,235115,52,94,61,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-552671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-anthony-kazmierczak","9":"tag-assault","10":"tag-courts","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-dulce-foster","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-ilhan-omar","16":"tag-indictments","17":"tag-jean-brandl","18":"tag-joe-biden","19":"tag-law-enforcement","20":"tag-mary-moriarty","21":"tag-minneapolis","22":"tag-minnesota","23":"tag-mn-state-wire","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-nihad-awad","26":"tag-politics","27":"tag-prisons","28":"tag-send-to-apple-news","29":"tag-top-stories","30":"tag-u-s-department-of-justice","31":"tag-u-s-news","32":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115981068878281785","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}