Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) assaulted during town hall meeting: "Here's the reality that people like this ugly man don't understand; we are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us." pic.twitter.com/Ud5l3yP4lQ

— CSPAN (@cspan) January 28, 2026

MINNESOTA CONGRESSWOMAN ILHAN Omar confronted her attacker and then continued her speech after being sprayed her with an unknown substance during a town hall meeting.

The Somali-born Democrat, who has repeatedly been targeted by US President Donald Trump, had just called for the abolishment of ICE and the resignation of the homeland security chief in the wake of immigration agents killing two US citizens in a matter of weeks.

Omar stepped towards her attacker with a raised fist after having the liquid, which was later described as having a foul smell, sprayed at her with a syringe.

The attacker, identified by police as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak, was then tackled to the ground and removed from the meeting by police.

Omar returned to the podium and urged the crowd to not let her attacker ‘have the show’.

Security attempted to stop the lawmaker, but she said “we will continue”. 

“We’re gonna keep talking. Just give me ten minutes. Please don’t let them have the show. Please don’t let them have the show,” she said.

“Here is the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand – we are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.”

Her constituents clapped and cheered after the attack.

Omar later shared a post on X to reassure her constituents she was okay.

“I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” she wrote.

The congresswoman is a vocal critic of Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign. In response he has labelled the lawmaker a “radical left lunatic”, and “disgusting”.

Rachel Scott, a Senior Political Correspondent with ABC, said in a post on X that Trump denied the attack happened when she asked him about it later.

“I asked him if he had seen the video of Rep. Omar being attacked and sprayed by a substance. “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,” the president said,” she wrote.

“I asked again if he had seen the video. “I haven’t seen it. No, no. I hope I don’t have to bother.”

Minnesota is home to the largest population of Somali immigrants in the US – a demographic which has been the subject of repeated attacks from the president.