A man at a Minneapolis town hall hosted by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., confronted her Tuesday night and appeared to try to spray her with a substance before he was removed from the venue.
Omar, who has faced a barrage of near-daily attacks from President Donald Trump, had called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be abolished and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign or face impeachment moments before the man lunged toward her.
The man walked down the middle of the room and tried to spray a liquid at Omar while appearing to yell “you must resign,” before a security guard restrained him. A person was then heard saying, “Oh, my God, he sprayed something on her,” adding that the substance smelled bad.
Local leaders who had spoken earlier at the event urged Omar to leave the room and “get checked,” but she said that “is what they want.”
“We will continue,” she said. “These f—— a–holes are not going to get away with this.”
The man was then removed from the room.
Minneapolis police said in a statement that officers “observed a man use a syringe to spray an unknown liquid” onto Omar, adding that the man was then arrested by officers and booked in Hennepin County Jail for 3rd degree assault.
“Representative Omar was uninjured and resumed speaking at the event,” the statement said.
Minneapolis Forensic Scientists responded to the scene, the police added.
Omar’s congressional office and U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Speaking to reporters after the event, Omar said, “I survived war, and I’m definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think that they can throw at me, because I’m built that way.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Kyle Stewart and Dennis Romero contributed.
