Man sprays unknown substance on Rep. Ilhan Omar and is tackled at Minneapolis town hall

Politics

The audience cheered as the man, who was wearing a black jacket, was pinned down and his arms were tied behind his back.

By LAURA BARGFELD and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM, Associated Press

January 27, 2026

2 minutes to read

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man sprayed an unknown substance on U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar before being tackled to the ground Tuesday during a town hall she was hosting in Minneapolis, where tensions over federal immigration enforcement have come to a head after agents fatally shot an intensive care nurse and a mother of three this month.

The audience cheered as the man, who was wearing a black jacket, was pinned down and his arms were tied behind his back. In video of the incident, someone in the crowd can be heard saying, “Oh my god, he sprayed something on her.” Omar continued the town hall after the man was ushered out of the room.

Just before that Omar called for the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign. “ICE cannot be reformed,” she said.

Minneapolis police did not immediately respond to a phone call and email message seeking information on the incident and whether anyone was arrested.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday night.

President Donald Trump has frequently criticized the congresswoman and has stepped up verbal attacks on her in recent months as he turned his focus on Minneapolis.

During a Cabinet meeting in December, he called her “garbage” and added that “her friends are garbage.”

Hours earlier on Tuesday, the president criticized Omar as he spoke to a crowd in Iowa, saying his administration would only let in immigrants who “can show that they love our country.”

“They have to be proud, not like Ilhan Omar,” he said, drawing loud boos at the mention of her name.

He added: “She comes from a country that’s a disaster. So probably, it’s considered, I think — it’s not even a country.”

Fellow U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, R-S.C., denounced the assault on Omar.

“I am deeply disturbed to learn that Rep. Ilhan Omar was attacked at a town hall today” Mace said via the social platform X. “Regardless of how vehemently I disagree with her rhetoric — and I do — no elected official should face physical attacks. This is not who we are.”

The attack came days after a man was arrested in Utah for allegedly punching U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Florida, in the face during the Sundance Film Festival and saying Trump was going to deport him.