President Donald Trump accused Rep. Ilhan Omar of orchestrating an attack on herself after she was sprayed with an unknown substance at a Minneapolis town hall Tuesday, calling the Minnesota Democrat a “fraud” and suggesting “she probably had herself sprayed.”
Video showed a suspect jumping from the front row and spraying Omar after she called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign or be impeached. A syringe appeared to shoot liquid at the congresswoman’s chest. “We will continue,” Omar said after the incident. “This f***ing a–hole is not getting away with this.”
Omar’s office said the congresswoman was OK and continued with her town hall “because she doesn’t let bullies win.” Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, was booked by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and faces a third-degree assault charge.
Trump told ABC News he hadn’t seen the video. “I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.” Hours before Omar’s town hall, Trump singled her out during an Iowa speech, saying the U.S. needed immigrants who “love our country.” “Not like Ilhan Omar she comes from a country that’s a disaster. It’s not even a country.”
The attack comes as Noem faces scrutiny over a second deadly shooting during immigration raids in Minnesota. Alex Pretti was shot and killed Saturday by federal agents after being tackled to the ground while trying to protect a woman being pepper-sprayed. Noem accused Pretti of being a domestic terrorist carrying a 9mm handgun, a claim disputed by bystander video. A Customs and Border Protection official said Tuesday that two federal officers fired Glock pistols during the shooting. Noem is expected to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March.
Trump’s suggestion that Omar staged her own attack, made without evidence and before viewing the video, follows a pattern of accusations against political opponents that shift focus from the actual incident to questions about the victim’s credibility.
