Ilhan Omar sprayed with unknown substance at Minnesota event; suspect arrested

Ilhan Omar, the Democratic member of Congress, was attacked at a public event in Minnesota on Tuesday when an assailant sprayed her with an unknown substance; she appeared unharmed and said, "I’ve survived war. And I’m definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think they can throw at me." A suspect, identified by police as Anthony J.

Kazmierczak, 55, was arrested at the scene; his motives were unclear on Wednesday. Ms. Omar represents Minnesota’s fifth congressional district and has played an outsize role in national politics, becoming a frequent target of right-wing criticism. The New York Times notes that President Trump has singled her out for years, at rallies prompting chants of "Send her back," and has called her "garbage," suggested without evidence that she married her brother and falsely said she praised Islamist terrorist groups.

Born in 1982, Ms. Omar emigrated to the United States as a refugee at age 12 after fleeing Somalia’s civil war for a refugee camp in Kenya. Her family moved to the United States in 1995, living in Virginia before settling in Minneapolis, where many Somali immigrants have built a community.

Ms. Omar, who wears a hijab, has described bullying she endured as a young, veiled recent arrival, including other kids sticking gum on her head scarf; she has recounted her father telling her that those actions reflected the aggressors feeling threatened by her existence. Ms.

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