Police identify orange substance sprayed on Rep. Ilhan Omar during town hall attack: reports

need to know

• Minnesota Rep. An orange substance sprayed on Ilhan Omar on Tuesday, January 27 at the town hall has been identified.

• The liquid inside the syringe was likely apple cider vinegar, CNN and CBS reported, citing law enforcement sources.

• Omar appeared unfazed by the attack and continued the meeting as the man – later identified as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak – was escorted out of the building.

An orange substance has been identified after an attacker sprayed Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar during a town hall on Tuesday, January 27.

A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN that forensic examiners had determined that the liquid inside the syringe, identified as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak, may have been apple cider vinegar.

CBS News also reported the news, citing researchers.

Omar’s office told CNN, citing initial reports, that the congresswoman may have been sprayed with apple cider vinegar.

A spokeswoman for the Minneapolis Police Department and Omar did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for more information.

Before the attack, Omar, 43, was calling for the resignation or impeachment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem, along with ongoing unrest in Minneapolis.

After he mentioned Noem, Kazmierczak, who was sitting in the front row, jumped up and approached him, spraying his shirt with an unknown substance from a syringe, according to the C-Span footage.

Several people screamed in concern, with one man warning the crowd, “He sprayed something,” according to the video.

Kazmierczak was immediately grabbed by security, tackled to the ground and out of the building. He was then booked into the Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of third-degree assault, police told PEOPLE.

After the interruption, Omar’s security and staff gave him a chance to end the town hall, but the politician said, “We will continue. These donkeys will not get away with this.”

As she resumed, the congresswoman told the crowd, “Here’s the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand: We are Minnesota strong, and we will be resilient when they throw us down.”

After Tuesday’s incident, Omar wrote on X Post, “I’m fine. I’m alive so this little agitator won’t threaten me to do my job.”

“I will not let the bullies win,” he added. “Grateful to my incredible constituents for rallying behind me. Minnesota Strong.”

Asked about the attack shortly after it happened, President Donald Trump showed little sympathy for Omar, whom he has repeatedly attacked in the press, calling him “garbage” and saying he should be “in jail” or “sent back to Somalia.”

Trump said he had not seen the video of the attack, but told ABC News’ Rachel Scott, “I don’t think so about him. I think he’s a fraud. He might have sprayed himself knowingly.”

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A spokesperson for Omar did not immediately respond when PEOPLE reached out for comment about Trump’s remarks.

A day after the attack on Omar, the president said the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Congress were “watching” the congresswoman, claiming she “left Somalia with nothing and is now worth more than $44 million. Time will tell,” she wrote in a Truth social post on Monday, January 26.

Omar then responded on the X Post, “Sorry, Trump, your support is collapsing and you’re panicking,” adding, “In the perfect sign, you’re retreating from your failure with lies and conspiracy theories about me. Years of ‘research’ turned up nothing. Get your thugs out of Minnesota.”

Read the original article on People