Attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar at Minneapolis town hall as threats against lawmakers surge
On Tuesday night in Minneapolis, Representative Ilhan Omar was attacked at a town hall when a man charged her and used a syringe to spray a liquid that smelled like vinegar before he was tackled by security, officials said. The incident came the same night the United States Capitol Police released a report showing threat cases against lawmakers, their families and staff rose to 14,938 last year, up from 9,474 in 2024.
Earlier that day, President Trump traveled to Iowa and, while saying he sought to “de‑escalate a little bit” on Fox News, targeted Ms. Omar in remarks to supporters and warned immigrants would “blow up our shopping centers, blow up our farms, kill people,” calling those arrested “hardened, vicious, horrible criminals.” After the town hall attack, Mr.
Trump questioned whether it had been staged, saying on ABC News, “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.” The episode was described as the latest sign of a widening pattern of political violence and threats in the United States, amid a string of recent incidents that the reporting links to a fraying political fabric: the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota by federal officers this month, the assassination of Melissa Hortman in a nearby suburb last year, the shooting of Representative Steve Scalise at a congressional baseball practice, the firebombing of Governor Josh Shapiro’s home and the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
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