DOJ charges man in Omar attack, alleges past threats to lawmaker
Federal prosecutors filed assault charges Thursday against a man accused of spraying liquid onto Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., during a town hall event. The man, Anthony Kazmierczak, faces up to a year in prison if convicted.
Kazmierczak faces one count alleging he “forcibly assaulted, opposed, impeded, intimidated an officer and employee of the United States” during official duties.
The FBI said Kazmierczak stood up during the town hall, “rapidly” approached Omar as she spoke to an audience and sprayed her with an unknown liquid, later determined to be apple cider vinegar. Investigators said Kazmierczak shouted at Omar before guards tackled him.
Omar was not injured in the attack and continued the event after a brief delay. The FBI said she was “visibly shaken.”
Who is Kazmierczak?
Federal authorities say Kazmierczak had previously made threatening statements about Omar in private. In the affidavit, investigators said that Kazmierczak told a close associate in the past that “somebody should kill that b—-,” referring to Omar.
NBC News reports that Kazmierczak has a decades-long criminal record. In 1989, he pleaded guilty to the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Twenty years later, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence. Then, in 2010, he was again convicted of driving while intoxicated.
Kazmierczak’s social media accounts show him supporting President Donald Trump and at least one post mocking Omar, NBC reports.
Response to attack
Trump suggested, without evidence, that Omar staged the incident.
“I think she’s a fraud,” Trump told ABC News. “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”
He told reporters that he had not seen the footage.
Trump has ridiculed Omar on several occasions and recently ramped up remarks during the aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. He has described Omar as “garbage,” falsely claimed she was married to her brother and said she was residing in the U.S. illegally. She is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
“She should get the hell out,” Trump said during a rally in Pennsylvania last month. “Throw her the hell out! She does nothing but complain.”
Omar blamed this week’s attack on Trump’s political rhetoric.
“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.
“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,” she said. “And my only message is it hasn’t worked thus far, and it’s not going to work in the future.”
Omar’s attack comes at a time of heightened political threats and violence. The U.S. Capitol Police said that threats against lawmakers have risen every year since 2022 and increased by 57% from 2024 to 2025.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
