A Tuesday night town hall in Minneapolis turned chaotic when Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was attacked mid-speech by a man wielding a syringe filled with an unidentified liquid.The terrifying moment occurred on January 27, as Omar addressed constituents. The man lunged toward her, spraying her with the substance from a syringe. Gasps filled the room as the disturbing act unfolded and was caught on camera. The footage quickly ignited outrage online.Police later identified the suspect as 55-year-old Anthony J. Kazmierczak. He was arrested at the scene and booked into Hennepin County Jail at 8:30 p.m. He is currently charged with third-degree assault, according to Minneapolis police.

Despite pleas from her staff to leave the event and seek medical care, Omar refused. She was not physically harmed and chose to stay, addressing the crowd shortly after the chaos.”I’ve survived war. And I’m definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think they can throw at me, because I’m built that way,” she told reporters following the town hall.The next morning, she posted on X, “I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work. I don’t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong.”