During a town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday, a man charged the podium where Rep. Ilhan Omar was giving remarks, appeared to squirt a liquid at her and was then tackled to the ground by a security guard after a brief struggle.
The man was arrested and booked into Hennepin County Jail for third-degree assault, Minneapolis police said.
The department said its officers were at the town hall for the event and observed a man use a syringe to spray an unknown liquid on to the congresswoman.
A man shouts at U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after spraying her, during a town hall meeting days after a man identified as Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration agents trying to detain him, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 27, 2026 in a still image from video.
Maria Alejandra Cardona/Reuters
The incident sparked cries of alarm from those in attendance. The congresswoman did not appear to be injured.
“I’m going to finish my remarks. It is important for me to continue,” Omar said, using a profanity.
“We will continue,” she said. “These f—— a——- are not going to get away with it!”
A man is tackled after spraying an unknown substance at US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) during a town hall she was hosting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 27, 2026.
Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images
The disturbance comes amid tensions in Minneapolis between local officials and the Trump administration over the immigration crackdown in the city that has seen two U.S. citizens killed in shootings involving federal agents.
Shortly before the man charged the podium, Omar called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Afterward, she told reporters that she won’t be intimidated.
“You know, I’ve survived more, 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,” she said.
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA – JANUARY 27: The syringe an individual used in an attempted attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) during a town hall meeting at the Urban League Twin Cities facility is seen on January 27, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A person holding a syringe charged Omar’s podium while she spoke to community members. Protests and demonstrations continue around Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by federal law enforcement.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
In a statement, U.S. Capitol Police said: “Tonight, a man is in custody after he decided to assault a Member of Congress — an unacceptable decision that will be met with swift justice.” The department said it is “working with our federal partners to see this man faces the most serious charges possible to deter this kind of violence in our society.”
Capitol Police said threats against members of Congress increased for the third year in a row. The department said it investigated 14,938 concerning statements, behaviors and communications directed against members of Congress, their families and their staff last year — compared to 9,474 in 2024.
