US Justice Department charges man with assault after Ilhan Omar town hall 

The United States Department of Justice has filed a criminal complaint against the man who sprayed Representative Ilhan Omar with apple cider vinegar during a news conference.

In court records filed on Wednesday and made public on Thursday, the Justice Department accused Anthony Kazmierczak of having “forcibly assaulted, opposed, impeded, intimidated and interfered” with Omar while she was performing her public duties.

The complaint included an affidavit from Derek Fossi, a special agent assigned to the Minnesota field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Fossi witnessed the incident. He described how Kazmierczak abruptly stood up and interrupted Omar while she held a town hall in her hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 27.

“Kazmierczak had a syringe in his hand, and as he continued to rapidly approach Representative Omar, he sprayed her with an initially unidentified liquid from the syringe,” Fossi said in the affidavit.

Omar had been speaking to the town hall about her outrage over the surge in federal immigration agents to the Minneapolis area, which is part of the congressional district she represents.

The administration of President Donald Trump, a Republican, has targeted the Democrat-led area in part because of its large Somali American community, of which Omar is a member.

She blamed the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and specifically Secretary Kristi Noem, for the violence that had occurred as a result of the immigration raids.

“Renee Good should be alive. Alex Pretti should still be alive,” Omar said, referring to two US citizens who were recently killed in shootings involving federal agents.

Good was shot in her car by an agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on January 7, while Pretti was killed when two Customs and Border Patrol Protection agents reportedly opened fire on January 24.

Omar then called for accountability from the Trump administration and reform to its “reckless and lawless” practices.

“ICE cannot be reformed. It cannot be rehabilitated. We must abolish ICE for good. And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment,” Omar said, seconds before Kazmierczak stood from his front-row seat and sprayed her.

Fossi later explained he heard Kazmierczak say as he turned away, “She’s not resigning. You’re splitting Minnesotans apart.”

The incident caused grave concern, particularly in the immediate aftermath, when it was not clear what substance Omar had been struck with – and whether it was hazardous.

Thursday’s affidavit outlined several incidents where Kazmierczak had been critical of or appeared to threaten violence against the representative.

According to the court document, investigators interviewed a “close associate” of Kazmierczak, who overheard him saying on the phone several years ago, “Someone should kill that b****.” The interviewee allegedly told the investigators that they believed Kazmierczak was referring to Omar.

The affidavit also displayed a cartoon Kazmierczak posted onto his Facebook account criticising Omar for her role in the so-called “defund the police” movement.

Omar had called to “rebuild” the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man whose heart stopped while an officer knelt on his neck.

A member of Congress’s progressive flank, nicknamed “The Squad”, Omar has long been a target for right-wing criticism.

President Trump, in particular, has repeatedly mocked Omar and spread false rumours about her, including suggestions of incest.

During a midterm campaign stop this week in Clive, Iowa, he questioned her patriotism and that of other immigrants.

“They have to show that they can love our country. They have to be proud. Not like Ilhan Omar,” he told a booing crowd. “Did you see that wise guy? You know, she’s always talking about, ‘The Constitution provides me with the following.’ The Constitution? She comes from a country that’s a disaster. It’s not even a country.”

It was the latest in a string of derogatory remarks Trump had made against Somalia and Omar personally.

In a December 2 cabinet meeting, for instance,  Trump used Omar as an example of the “garbage” the US immigration system was supposedly letting in.

Omar arrived in the US at age 12 as a child refugee, fleeing Somalia’s civil war. She has served as the representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district since 2019.

Critics have long warned of a rise in political violence in the US, and just this week, the US Capitol Police released a report saying it had probed 14,938 “concerning statements” made against Congress members in the last year alone.

That was a significant increase over the rate in 2024, when 9,474 such threats were investigated.

Since the vinegar-spraying incident, Omar held a separate news conference to denounce the “hateful rhetoric” aimed at her since she took public office.

She added that the death threats she receives increase when the president mentions her by name. But she emphasised that she remains unbowed.

“My presence here should tell you that the fear and intimidation doesn’t work on me,” she said.