OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
11:28 AM – Wednesday, January 28, 2026
During a town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar was interrupted when a man leaped from the audience, charged toward the stage, and sprayed her with an “unknown liquid” from a syringe. Security and attendees quickly tackled him, and he was arrested on the spot.
While forensic testing is ongoing, witnesses and journalists present noted a strong, “vinegar-like” or acidic odor. Omar (D-Minn.) was not physically harmed and continued the town hall for another 25 minutes after the suspect was removed.
The man who sprayed Omar has now been identified as Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55. He is a local resident of Minneapolis.
According to statements from his brother, reported by The Independent, Kazmierczak has been “in and out of treatment since he was a kid.” The brother also described him as being “heavily medicated” and having long-standing issues. Back in 1989, Kazmierczak was convicted of felony auto theft.
On Tuesday, Omar discussed immigration policy, calling for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Video footage shows the man approaching Omar from the front row, where he suddenly pulls out a medical syringe to spray a liquid at her while shouting “You must resign!” In the recorded footage, the microphone at the podium had also picked up the sound of a woman in the crowd exclaiming, “Oh, my God, he sprayed something on her.”
Soon after, Omar’s staff was heard suggesting that the Congresswoman step away from the podium to get “checked out” for safety reasons. Bystanders remarked that the substance had a pungent smell.
“Please don’t let them have the show. We will continue,” Omar responded. “These f****** a**holes are not going to get away with it.”
“Here is the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand,” Omar said as she returned to the microphone. “We are Minnesota strong, and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.”
Kazmierczak was soon detained, and he is now reportedly held in Hennepin County Jail on a third-degree assault charge.
His neighbor, Brian Kelley, told the New York Post about a strange interaction just days before the town hall attack. Kazmierczak asked Brian to watch his dog when he went to see Omar speak.
“He said, ‘I’m going to this Omar thing.’ I’m like, ‘Omar what?’ He said, ‘This town hall thing.’ And he said, ‘I might get arrested,’” Kelley said. “I figured it was nonsense. He wasn’t going to do anything stupid. I said, ‘Sure, I’ll walk her.’ But then the next day he said, ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it covered.’ I figured he blew that off.”
“I didn’t take him seriously. I’m surprised, but not overly surprised,” the neighbor added. “I figured when he said he was going to go to the town hall, he’d stand up and say something stupid. I can’t imagine him assaulting or spraying somebody.”
Kelley also added that he has been “heavily medicated” for some time due to a prior car accident. The crash left him “not very physically able to do much.”
“He’s also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” the neighbor continued.
Omar appeared visibly shocked by the sudden confrontation. However, she quickly pivoted toward Kazmierczak and began shouting at him, moving in his direction as he was being apprehended by security and escorted out of the Urban League Twin Cities facility.
“Everybody, everybody, settle down. I’m going to finish my remarks,” Omar asserted following the incident. “It is important for me to continue to lead my Democratic colleagues in demanding [Noem’s] resignation.”
Omar’s office later said in a statement that she is okay, while emphasizing that “she doesn’t let bullies win.”
“I’m a survivor, so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” Omar posted on her personal X account.
Rep. Omar’s calls for abolishing ICE and demanding the resignation of Noem during her town hall meeting come amid heightened Democrat criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota.
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