The man who rushed Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and sprayed her with apple cider vinegar from a syringe was charged Thursday by the Justice Department.
Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, faces accusations that he “forcibly assaulted, opposed, impeded, intimidated an officer and employee of the United States,” according to charging documents.
Omar, a 43-year-old Democrat and refugee from Somalia, was not injured in the attack, which occurred during a town hall she hosted Tuesday night in Minneapolis. She continued speaking after Kazmierczak was detained and hauled out of the room.
“I’m definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think that they can throw at me, because I’m built that way,” she said, noting that she had “survived” Somalia’s civil war.
President Trump, a longtime enemy of Omar, called her a “fraud” afterward and suggested she staged the attack herself.
“She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” Trump said when asked about the incident by ABC News.
But federal investigators apparently didn’t see it that way, noting Kazmierczak had an extensive criminal history and frequently posted online supporting the president and attacking his opponents.
A close associate of Kazmierczak also told the feds that several years ago, Kazmierczak told him, “Someone should kill that b—h” in reference to Omar.
“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 Wednesday.
At the town hall, Omar was calling for the removal of Kristi Noem from her role as the security of Homeland Security. Omar was outraged by Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, in which federal agents have fatally shot two U.S. citizen protesters.
While attacking Noem, Kazmierczak said, “She’s not resigning. You’re splitting Minnesotans apart,” according to charging documents.
With News Wire Services
