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“I don’t let bullies win,” Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said after a man sprayed an unknown substance on her in an apparent attack during a town hall briefing in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
Just before the incident, Omar had called for the abolishment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign or face impeachment.
Calls are mounting on Capitol Hill for Noem to step down after the shooting deaths in Minneapolis of two 37-year-old residents: Renee Good, killed on 7 January, and Alex Pretti, who was shot on Saturday.
“I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” wrote Omar in a post on her personal X account.
“I don’t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong,” she added.
Minneapolis police say they saw the man use a syringe to spray an unknown liquid at Omar. He was immediately arrested and processed at the county jail for third-degree assault, according to Minneapolis Police Department Spokesperson Trevor Folke.
Forensic scientists were called to the scene. Police later identified the man as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak.
Omar continued speaking for about 25 minutes more after the man was ushered out by security personnel. Walking out afterwards, Omar said she was going to get screened by a medical team to identify the substance she had been sprayed with and decide on the next steps.
Minneapolis Councilwoman LaTrisha Vetaw said some of the substance also came into contact with her and State Senator Bobby Joe Champion in what she described as a “deeply unsettling” incident.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump responded to the news of the incident by insinuating Omar might have organised it herself.
“No. I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud. I really don’t think about that. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” Trump told the press on Tuesday.
Asked if he had reviewed the footage of the apparent attack, the US president replied, “I haven’t seen it. No, no. I hope I don’t have to bother.”
Trump is a vocal critic of Omar, who is of Somali background.
He has repeatedly called for her removal from the US House of Representatives, claiming she is “not an American” and does not represent the interests of the country.
Omar fled Somalia as a child following the outbreak of civil war in 1988.
“She comes from a country that’s a disaster,” Trump said hours prior to the incident involving Omar Tuesday. “It’s probably … it’s not even a country,” he added. “It barely has a government. They’re good at one thing: pirates.”
Additional sources • AP