A man attacked Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Tuesday night during an event in Minneapolis. The assailant, who has been detained, abruptly stood up during the politician's speech and sprayed her with an unidentified yellow liquid using a syringe while verbally confronting her. He was quickly subdued, handed over to the police, and is currently detained, charged with third-degree assault. The congresswoman, after facing him, returned to the lectern and finished her speech, which at the exact moment of the incident was focused on the presence of ICE and border services in the city and on a request for dismissal of Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
"I'm fine. I'm a survivor, so a little troublemaker won't stop me from doing my job. I don't let bullies win. I am grateful to my amazing constituents who supported me. Minnesota is strong," she reacted after the incident. "The security staff and the Minneapolis Police Department quickly apprehended the individual. He is now in custody. The congresswoman is fine. She continued with her public assembly because she does not let the attackers win," her office added.
"Tonight, a man has been arrested for deciding to assault a member of Congress, an unacceptable decision that will be promptly resolved. We appreciate the quick response of the venue's security staff and our local law enforcement. We are working with our federal partners to ensure that this man faces the most serious charges possible to deter this type of violence in our society," said the Capitol Police in a statement.
This incident comes after weeks of constant attacks by Donald Trump against the congresswoman, of Somali origin and the first woman of color from her state and one of only two Muslim women in history to reach Congress. The President of the United States lashes out at her day in and day out, including today from Iowa, during a speech to his supporters. Calling her stupid, with a very low IQ, corrupt, enriched by stealing from citizens, a complainer, hating the United States, and even claiming she is married to her own brother and should go back to "her country, which is not even a country and only has pirates."
Asked tonight by an ABC journalist if he had seen the video of what happened, the President did not condemn the attack, nor did he show any empathy. "No. I don't think about her. I think she's a fraud. I really don't think about that. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her," the President said. When asked again if he had seen the footage, he maintained his position. "I haven't seen it. No, no. I hope I don't have to bother."
On her social media, there are dozens and dozens of similar insults, while calling the Somali community "trash", which is particularly concentrated in Minnesota, the state where ICE has been most active in the last month and a half. "The Department of Justice and Congress are investigating Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who left Somalia with nothing and now reportedly has a fortune of over $44 million. Time will tell," he said just this Monday. "The so-called 'congresswoman' Ilhan Omar, a chronic complainer who hates America, knows all about fraud. She should be in jail, or even receive a worse punishment: being deported to Somalia, considered one of the worst countries in the world. She could help make Somalia great again!" he had snapped last week.
In December, at a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump mocked Ilhan Omar's hijab and claimed that the politician married her own brother to obtain U.S. citizenship. "Therefore, she is here illegally. She should go away! Kick her out! All she does is complain," he added. The congresswoman arrived in the United States at the age of 12 as a refugee and obtained citizenship at 17, in the year 2000. Her family spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before arriving in the United States in the 1990s. In 1997, she moved to Minneapolis, where she eventually built her career. And for over a decade, the now President has been obsessed with her. His first attacks date back to 2019 when he already repeated the idea that she should "go back and help fix the completely broken and crime-infested places they come from."
The conspiracy about her marriage to her brother is not the President's invention. It has been circulating on the internet for a decade, originating in forums and blogs that have since been deleted, since she began her political career at the state level. The threats began then and have never disappeared (although during the years of Joe Biden they decreased to minimal levels), but since she has been on the President's radar, they have multiplied, to the point where she is the person in all of Congress who receives the most death threats. The Secret Service has had up to six permanent escorts for her and her third husband. Her two previous marriages, one of them to a British citizen, were also with Somali-origin individuals, and in fact, she had to pay a penalty to the IRS for a joint tax return with one when she was already married to another.
Political violence is not a trivial matter, especially in Minnesota. Last summer, Melissa Hortman, former Speaker of the House of Representatives of that state, and her husband were shot dead in their home by a man disguised as a police officer. He also wounded another Democratic politician that same night and had a very long list of targets. "When the President uses dehumanizing language every day, we know that message reaches the worst people in this country, and then they act accordingly," Omar lamented just a few weeks ago in an interview. "There are people in prison for threatening to kill me. There are people being prosecuted right now for threatening to kill me, so it's something we always keep in mind. But I'm also concerned that those people find someone who looks like me in Minneapolis or anywhere else in the country, think it's me, and harm them," she told The Guardian.
This is not the only recent case. Last Friday, African-American Democratic congressman Maxwell Frost from Florida was punched in the face by a man who told him that President Donald Trump was going to deport him. The altercation took place at a private party during the Sundance Film Festival and was accompanied by racist insults.