A man has pleaded guilty to assaulting Democratic lawmaker Ilhan Omar during a town hall event in January. Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, admitted to one count of Assaulting a United States Officer in U.S. District Court, the Justice Department announced.
Kazmierczak attacked Omar after she made remarks criticizing President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, specifically targeting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) for its actions in Minnesota and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal agents.
During a Thursday hearing before U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen, Kazmierczak acknowledged that he planned the assault and disagreed with Omar's political views, the Justice Department said. He sprayed Omar with apple cider vinegar from a syringe, which landed on her clothing and skin. Lab analysis confirmed the liquid contained acetic acid, but Omar was uninjured.
Kazmierczak gestured and shouted at Omar before security guards subdued him, temporarily disrupting the town hall. Omar later continued her remarks. Trump's crackdown and ICE detentions have been widely condemned by human rights groups as violations of due process and free speech rights, and activists say they create an unsafe environment for ethnic minorities.
Omar, a Muslim who came to the U.S. as a 12-year-old and became a citizen in 2000, has been repeatedly targeted by Trump in public remarks and social media posts, including attacks on her Somali nationality and calls for her to be removed from the country.
Political experts have raised alarm about rising political violence in a polarized United States.
