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Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was assaulted on Tuesday evening during a town hall event in Minneapolis by a man who squirted some kind of liquid from a syringe on the lawmaker amid heightened tensions in the state and following a series of baseless allegations and intensifying insults against her by US President Donald Trump.

During public remarks to local constituents—just as she called for ICE to be abolished and that Secratary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem should “resign of face impeachment”—video footage of the attack shows a man wearing a black jacket sitting in the front row abruptly rise from his seat and lunge toward Omar’s podium as he sprays something at her with a syringe in his right hand.

While apparently unharmed, Omar first backs away before charging at the man before he is tackled by security and other bystanders intervene.

Watch:

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) assaulted during town hall meeting: “Here’s the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand; we are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.” pic.twitter.com/Ud5l3yP4lQ
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 28, 2026

“Oh my god,” someone off camera can be heard saying, “He sprayed something on her.”

Maintaining her composure after the man was subdued, Omar said, “Here’s the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand; we are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.”

Over recent weeks—as Minnesota has been the focus of nationwide outrage due to the authoritarian tactics used by federal immigration agents deployed and the killing of two observers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti—Trump, a racist, has repeatedly targeted Omar with false suggestions that she has perpetrated fraud due to her personal financial disclosures and used her Somali heritage to insult her as a “garbage person.”

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“I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” Omar said in a post shortly after the incident. “I don’t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong.”

Many credited Omar for her fortitude in the face of the attack, both during and after.

“llhan is toughest lawmaker in Congress,” said journalist Pablo Manríquez. “No one gets more hate, then goes right back to doing the work.”

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