FBI probes attack on Democrat Ilhan Omar - as she blames Trump
Ilhan Omar said of Donald Trump after the attack: "Every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket."
Thursday 29 January 2026 01:49, UK
The FBI is investigating an attack on Democrat politician Ilhan Omar by a man who sprayed her with an unknown substance.
The Minnesota representative was targeted at an event in Minneapolis on Tuesday, where she called for ICE - the controversial immigration enforcement unit - to be scrapped.
The man who attacked her during her address was identified by police as Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, who was arrested for third-degree assault.
US federal law explicitly states that assaults on lawmakers must be investigated by the FBI.
The agency had stayed largely quiet about the incident until Wednesday evening.
It told Sky's US partner network NBC News: "The FBI is investigating this matter. To maintain the integrity of the ongoing investigation, no additional details are available for release at this time."
Ms Omar gave a news conference the day after the attack, and blamed Donald Trump. He has repeatedly criticised her and called her "garbage" last month.
He has also denigrated her birthplace, Somalia, describing it as a "disaster" and "not even a country".
'Trump is obsessed with me'
Ms Omar declared: "Every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket."
She said she would not be such a target "if Donald Trump wasn't in office and if he wasn't so obsessed with me".
"I do believe that the facts of the situation are that I wouldn't be where I am at today, having to pay for security, having the government to think about providing me security, if Donald Trump wasn't in office," she added.
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Ms Omar, now a US citizen, fled Somalia with her family when she was a child during a civil war. She is the first Somali-American member of Congress.
The Minneapolis-St Paul area is home to some 84,000 people of Somali descent - nearly a third of the total number of Somalis living in the US.
Thousands of ICE agents started to be deployed to the city, the largest in the state of Minnesota, on 5 January.
The aim, according to the government department, was to arrest "fraudsters, murderers, rapists, and gang members".
It came after a right-wing online influencer alleged a number of childcare facilities run by Somali residents in Minnesota had committed welfare fraud.
Two protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, have since been shot and killed by agents. Those involved in the latter have been placed on leave amid growing backlash.