US lawmaker Ilhan Omar sprayed with foul liquid at Minneapolis town hall

Man sprays Democratic lawmaker with foul-smelling liquid during Minneapolis town hall. Incident highlights growing threats and security concerns for US lawmakers.

MINNEAPOLIS: A man sprayed foul, smelling liquid at Democratic U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D, MN) during a town hall meeting in Minneapolis on Tuesday, police said. The incident, which took place as part of ongoing immigration enforcement tensions, resulted in no injuries to Omar. She continued with her speech after a brief break.

As per the eyewitnesses and the video, the man sitting in the front row, went up to Omar when she was criticizing the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, also demanding Noem’s resignation after the two US citizens who were fatally shot in Minneapolis.

Reportedly, the man sprayed what police have described as a syringe’s contents while saying, “You must resign.” The security guard on the spot immediately arrested him, and he was later charged with third, degree assault.

Just before the attack, Omar had denounced ICE, saying: “ICE cannot be reformed, it cannot be rehabilitated, we have to get rid of ICE for good, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has to resign or be impeached. The witnesses told that the liquid smelled of ammonia and had caused slight throat discomfort. Forensic experts were called to gather evidence at the crime scene, said the police of Minneapolis.

Despite the event, Omar went on with her speech and only used a napkin to wipe herself when she refused medical help.

I figured out pretty early that you dont back down when someone threatens you, she told the rally, highlighting the need to be strong and to resist intimidation aimed at scaring us.

Omar, 43, who entered the US when she was 12 and got a citizenship in 2000, has been a favorite punching bag of politicians, including the then President Donald Trump. They are the ones, who in December, publicly gave her the worst of insults and questioned her patriotism, which has led to her having a security detail.

The episode of Tuesday is these threats against politicians at a high level. US Capitol Police revealed that threat assessment cases rose by 58% in 2025 as compared with the previous year and in the vast majority of those over 14, 700 cases, the police had to deal with statements, communications or behavior of a threatening nature, aimed at members of Congress, their families, and staff or the Capitol complex.

Authorities are still working on figuring out what happened in the case of Minneapolis, and Omars office has confirmed that she is well and has returned to her routine. This incident highlights the increasing level of security challenges that politicians have to deal with amid the rise of political discord and the publics scrutiny of federal agencies.