Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) had some support among Republican lawmakers despite President Donald Trump suggesting Omar “had herself sprayed” in an alleged attack during her town hall Tuesday.
Omar was in Minneapolis Tuesday evening, addressing questions from constituents when a man stood up and sprayed her with an unknown substance from a syringe. At the time of the disruption, Omar was recommending that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem resign when the man, Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, stood up to shout that Noem is “not resigning,” then emptied his syringe.
This incident was captured on multiple cameras from multiple angles. It elicited sympathetic responses from across the aisle Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I am deeply disturbed to learn that Rep. Ilhan Omar was attacked at a town hall today,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) wrote on X Tuesday. “Regardless of how vehemently I disagree with her rhetoric – and I do – no elected official should face physical attacks. This is not who we are.”
Mace not only disagrees with Omar’s “rhetoric,” but previously alleged that Omar is married to her brother and accused Omar of “aiding terrorism.”
“I condemn the assault on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in the strongest possible terms,” Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) wrote on X Tuesday. “This must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“I disagree with her on almost everything politically and on policy. But these type of disagreements should NEVER result in assault,” Alford wrote. “Members of Congress should be able to have public meetings with their constituents, as we’ve done more than 120 times, without fear for their safety.”
Rep. Mike Lawler (D-NY) said the attack was “unacceptable.”
“No matter what side of the aisle you’re on, this behavior has no place in our democracy and must be condemned,” Lawler wrote on X Tuesday
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) took it a step further, calling for the imprisonment of Kazmierczak on X Wednesday.
“We always have the right to free speech and to petition the government, but political violence must be dealt with sternly. The criminal here needs to spend sometime behind bars,” Bacon wrote.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) suggested that Omar was in a “bed that she made,” but condemned any attempt to attack Omar while on Real America’s Voice News’s American Sunrise Wednesday.
“I want Ilhan Omar to be denaturalized, I want Ilhan Omar to be deported, but I do not want Ilhan Omar to be attacked or hurt,” Fine said.
“But the second thing is the person I blame for this attack is Ilhan Omar. Because by Ilhan Omar’s own definition, what happened to her was a peaceful protest,” Fine added. “When in Minneapolis people say that people throwing things at ICE officers is a peaceful protest, they can’t be surprised when a crazy person hears them and does the same to them.”
Meanwhile, Trump admitted to reporters Tuesday night that he had not seen the video of Omar’s attack.
“I think she’s a fraud. I really don’t think about that,” Trump said. “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”
Omar filed financial disclosure forms that suggest she and her husband are worth at least $6 million and as much as $30 million. These disclosures have raised eyebrows because the couple said they were worth no more than $158,000 just two years ago.
OMAR LEADS DEMOCRATS INTRODUCING ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST NOEM
Recently, Omar has stated she does not regret sponsoring the Maintaining Essential Access to Lunch for Students Act of 2020, which was linked to the “Feeding Our Future” fraud scheme in Minnesota, where members of the state’s Somali community defrauded the public for tens of millions of dollars.
The Department of Justice launched an investigation into Omar Monday over her alleged involvement in widespread fraud regarding social services programs in Minnesota, and whether she benefited from said fraud.