Omar says Trump’s ‘hateful rhetoric’ causes threats against her to ‘skyrocket’

A day after a man charged her at the podium at a town hall in Minneapolis, Rep. Ilhan Omar at a news conference Wednesday pinned the blame on President Donald Trump.

“Blame is very interesting, but facts are more important, and 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.

In Tuesday’s incident, police say 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak was observed by officers using a syringe to spray an unknown liquid onto the congresswoman. Kazmierczak was arrested and booked into Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of third-degree assault, Minneapolis police said.

Preliminary reports indicate the liquid was non-toxic, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Wednesday.

Asked Wednesday about the attack, Omar said the man who attacked her “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?”

Neither the FBI, which took over the investigation on Wednesday, or Minneapolis police have commented on a motive in the attack.

Omar has been the target of verbal attacks from Trump for years. More recently, his attacks have come alongside escalated rhetoric describing the Somali community in Minnesota, the largest in the nation.

In the past several weeks, Trump has called Omar a “fake sleazebag,” and called for her to be thrown out of the U.S.

In a phone interview Tuesday evening with ABC News’ Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott, Trump said he hadn’t seen video of the incident and accused Omar, without providing evidence, of possibly staging the attack.

“I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud,” Trump said. “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”

Asked Wednesday if she had reservations about public events after Tuesday’s incident, Omar replied, “Well, I think my presence here should tell you that the fear and intimidation doesn’t work on me.”

“The president’s rhetoric, the attacks from him since I’ve gotten into public office, from the right wing, has always been really to stop me from being in public service, to intimidate me, to make me want to quit. And my only message is it hasn’t worked thus far, and it’s not going to work in the future,” she said.

The incident came amid tensions in Minneapolis between local officials and the Trump administration over the immigration crackdown in the city that has seen two U.S. citizens killed in shootings involving federal law enforcement.

Seconds before the man charged the podium, Omar called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Afterward, she told reporters that she won’t be intimidated.  

“You know, I’ve survived more, and I’m definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think that they can throw at me because I’m built that way,” she said.

U.S. Capitol Police said Tuesday that threats against members of Congress increased for the third year in a row. The department said it investigated 14,938 concerning statements, behaviors and communications directed against members of Congress, their families and their staff last year — compared to 9,474 in 2024.

In a statement about the alleged assault, Capitol Police said in a statement, “Tonight, a man is in custody after he decided to assault a Member of Congress — an unacceptable decision that will be met with swift justice.” The department said it is “working with our federal partners to see this man faces the most serious charges possible to deter this kind of violence in our society.”