Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar blamed President Donald Trump for threats to her safety on Wednesday, one day after she was accosted and squirted with liquid at an event in Minneapolis.
The man arrested for Tuesday’s attack has posted online in support of the Republican president.
“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 during a press conference. Asked if she was nervous about appearing in public, she said, “Fear and intimidation doesn’t work on me.”
The attack came during a perilous political moment in Minneapolis, where two people have been fatally shot by federal agents during the White House’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
Omar, a refugee from Somalia, has long been a fixture of Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. After she was elected seven years ago, Trump said she should “go back” to her country. He recently described her as “garbage” and said she should be investigated. During a speech in Iowa on Tuesday, shortly before Omar was attacked, he said immigrants need to be proud of the United States — “not like Ilhan Omar.”
“It’s hard not to see the link between what happened and the attacks Trump has made against Omar personally, not to mention his siege of her city,” said Jeremy Slevin, who worked for years as a spokesperson for Omar before becoming a senior advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The White House declined to comment. Trump baselessly accused Omar of staging the attack.
“She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” he told ABC News.
The attack on Omar was a reminder of the country’s threatening political climate, which has led some lawmakers to limit public events or not seek reelection.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, said that she knows how Omar was feeling because an armed man showed up at her Seattle home in 2022, threatening her and her husband.
“It has to stop. I mean, we are just trying to do our jobs, and, it could be quieted and could be called out by Trump and leaders in elected office who refuse to go along with it, but they continue to do it, and this is the consequence,” Jayapal told the Associated Press.
The suspect has supported Trump
The man accused of squirting the substance on Omar has a criminal history and has made online posts supportive of the Republican president.
Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, was convicted of felony auto theft in 1989, has been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence and has had numerous traffic citations, Minnesota court records show. There are also indications he has had significant financial problems, including two bankruptcy filings.
Police say Kazmierczak used a syringe to squirt liquid on Omar during Tuesday’s event after she called for the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the firing or impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Officers immediately tackled and arrested Kazmierczak.
Photos of the syringe, which fell when the man was tackled, show what appears to be a light-brown liquid inside. Authorities haven’t publicly identified the substance.
Kazmierczak hadn’t been formally charged or scheduled for an initial court appearance as of Wednesday afternoon. Daniel Borgertpoepping, spokesman for Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, said they had still not received the results of the police investigation. A statement from the Minneapolis Police Department said the FBI was now leading the investigation.
It’s unclear if Kazmierczak had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. The county’s chief public defender, Michael Berger, said the case hasn’t been assigned to his office.
In social media posts, Kazmierczak criticized former President Joe Biden and referred to Democrats as “angry and liars.” Trump “wants the US is stronger and more prosperous,” he wrote. “Stop other countries from stealing from us.”
In another post, Kazmierczak asked, “When will descendants of slaves pay restitution to Union soldiers’ families for freeing them/dying for them, and not sending them back to Africa?”
A target of Trump from the start
Omar’s safety has been an issue for years. After Trump’s initial round of social media attacks during her first year in Congress, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Capitol Police to conduct a security review. Omar said six officers provided around-the-clock protection for her and her family.
In 2021, Omar played an audio of a death threat she received by phone during a press conference. The caller used racist and anti-Muslim slurs during in the recording. The congresswoman at the time called on her Republican colleagues to stand up to “anti-Muslim hate” in their ranks.
The following year, a man was sentenced to three years’ probation by a federal judge on federal hate crime charges after sending an email to Omar threatening to kill her.
Trump stepped up his criticism of Omar in recent months as he turned his focus on the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, which is home to about 84,000 people of Somali descent — nearly a third of the Somalis living in the U.S. And he has linked the Twin Cities immigration crackdown to a series of fraud cases involving government programs in which most of the defendants have roots in the East African country.
“I wouldn’t be where I am at today, having to pay for security, having the government have to think about providing me security, if Donald Trump wasn’t in office and if he wasn’t so obsessed with me,” Omar said Wednesday.
Lawmakers face rising threats
The attack on Omar came days after a man was arrested in Utah for allegedly punching U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Florida, in the face at a private party during the Sundance Film Festival.
Christian Joel Young, 28, said “we are going to deport you and your kind” before striking the congressman, according to a probable cause affidavit. He was charged Tuesday in state court with two counts of misdemeanor assault and felony burglary for entering the bar illegally.
A judge ordered him held without bail. Young’s attorney declined to comment.
Threats against members of Congress have increased in recent years, peaking in 2021 following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol before dipping slightly only to climb again, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Capitol Police.
“Almost all of us receive very regular threats,” said Rep. Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Omar has led the caucus in recent weeks while Casar has been on paternity leave. The congressman described Omar as “tough as nails” and said Trump should curb his rhetoric about her.
“The point of what these violent actors want is for us to shut up and we just can’t give in to that,” Casar said.
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Biesecker and Brown reported from Washington. Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press reporters Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and R.J. Rico in Atlanta contributed.
