Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., suggested Wednesday that President Donald Trump's rhetoric toward her and the Somali community contributed to the attack on her at a town hall Tuesday.
“What the facts have shown since I’ve gotten into elected office is that every 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,” Omar said at a news conference in Minneapolis.
“I do believe that the facts of the situation are that I wouldn’t be where I am at today, having to pay for security, having the government to think about providing me security, if Donald Trump wasn’t in office,” she added.
Omar was confronted at a town hall Tuesday by a man who tried to spray her with a substance from a syringe. The man, identified as James Kazmierczak, 55, was arrested on suspicion of assault but has yet to be formally charged.
A spokesperson for Omar said her office was told that a preliminary report showed that the substance was apple cider vinegar. The FBI said in a statement Wednesday that it is now investigating the incident.
It is a federal crime to assault a member of Congress.
Trump has targeted Omar dating to his first term in office, often referring to her home country, Somalia. In 2019, he tweeted that Omar and three fellow House progressives and women of color known as “the squad” should “go back” to the countries they came from. All of the "squad" members except Omar were born in the U.S.
At a rally in Pennsylvania last month, Trump said Omar “does nothing but bitch” and encouraged the crowd to chant “send her back.”
More recently, Trump has sought to tie Omar to fraud claims in Minnesota. On Monday, Trump said the Justice Department was "looking" at Omar.
Omar said Wednesday that the man at the town hall “was specifically upset that Trump’s order to deport Somalis was not yielding enough deportations of Somalis, so he wanted to come get the person he thought was protecting the Somalis.”
Omar's office did not respond to a request for comment on whether authorities had informed her about the man's motivations.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Omar's remarks Wednesday night.
Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the U.S.
Kazmierczak’s social media accounts include multiple photos in support of Trump and criticizing Democrats.
In one post, he wrote, “Are all Democrats angry and liars?” In another, he captioned a photo of former President Joe Biden with the word “spineless.”
Congressional Democrats have overwhelmingly condemned the attack, as have most Republicans who weighed in.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said in a post that the "nonstop hate and dangerous rhetoric from Trump and his allies has fueled this type of violence."
Across the aisle, Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, said in a post that “political, religious, and ideological differences never justify violence.”
There were, however, some GOP outliers.
“At the end of the day, this is the Democrats playing games, and Ilhan Omar needs to be in jail. She’s as guilty as they come," Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said in a podcast appearance with conservative influencer Benny Johnson.
Tuberville also claimed that the attack was staged, echoing earlier remarks Trump made in an interview with ABC News when he said Omar "probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., said in an interview on Newsmax that while he doesn't want Omar attacked or hurt, "I also blame Ilhan Omar for what happened."
"When Democrats describe people who throw objects at law enforcement as 'peaceful protesters,' they shouldn’t be surprised when unhinged individuals start doing the same to them," Fine added.
The town hall incident comes as threats of political violence continue to rise. U.S. Capitol Police released an annual report Tuesday about investigated threats related to Congress that showed that investigations “concerning statements, behaviors, and communications directed against Members of Congress, their families, staff, and the Capitol Complex” spiked to 14,938 last year, up from 9,474 in 2024.
It was the third consecutive year the number of investigations had increased.
