The assailant was immediately subdued by security personnel and escorted out of the room, while attendees applauded his removal. “I learned from a very young age that you don’t give in to threats,” the Democratic official said upon resuming her speech.
Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was sprayed with an unidentified substance by a man during her first town hall meeting of the year in Minneapolis, an incident that did not interrupt the event after the legislator decided to continue her speech, according to journalists at the scene.
Omar had just begun her remarks at a community center in the north of the city when a man, located in the front row, sprayed her with a liquid from a syringe. The assailant was immediately subdued by security personnel and escorted out of the room, while attendees applauded his removal.
“I learned from a very young age that you don’t give in to threats,” Omar said as she resumed speaking to her constituents.
An AFP journalist present at the town hall indicated that the man was removed from the premises while Omar continued her speech. The congresswoman stated: “We will remain resilient in the face of anything they throw at us.”
The incident occurred during a public assembly in Minneapolis, a city where two U.S. citizens died this month in the context of a crackdown on immigration that has generated protests and social tension.
The attack on Omar prompted condemnations from elected officials of different parties. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the incident “unacceptable.”
“Violence and intimidation have no place in Minneapolis. We can disagree without putting people at risk,” Frey declared, adding that this behavior “will not be tolerated in our city.”
From the Republican Party, South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace expressed her condemnation of the attack. “I am deeply disturbed,” she said in a statement.
“As much as I vehemently disagree with her rhetoric—and I do—no elected official should be subjected to physical assault. This is not who we are,” Mace affirmed. Moments before the attack, Omar called for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during her speech to the attendees.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot be reformed. It cannot be rehabilitated. We must abolish it completely. And the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, must resign or face impeachment,” Omar said from the stage.
In images of the incident shared on social media, people sitting behind the congresswoman suggested she take a break before continuing, but she rejected the interruption. “Please, don’t let them steal the show,” she said.
Omar then referred to the attacker without mentioning him by name. “This is the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand: we are strong in Minnesota, and we will remain resilient in the face of anything they throw at us,” she stated.
At the end of the event, the congresswoman spoke with journalists and again addressed the attack. “I have survived war. And I will definitely survive the intimidation and whatever else these people think they can throw at me, because that’s who I am,” she declared.
(With information from AFP)
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