A man has been arrested after spraying an unknown substance on Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar as she called for ICE to be abolished during a town hall event in Minneapolis.
The Democrat also demanded Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem resign or face impeachment, before she was attacked by the man, who used a syringe to spray a foul-smelling liquid at her.
“ICE cannot be reformed,” Ms Omar said of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, seconds before the attack.
Footage showed the man was immediately tackled to the ground, and someone in the crowd could be heard shouting, “oh my god, he sprayed something on her”.
The congresswoman refused medical attention, saying she just needed a napkin, and continued with her speech after a short break.
She said: “I learned at a young age, you don’t give in to threats. You look them in the face and you stand strong.”
The man was identified by police as Anthony Kazmierczak.
Police spokesman Trevor Folke said the 55-year-old was arrested for third-degree assault, adding forensic scientists were dispatched to the scene.
One witness told the Reuters news agency the unknown substance smelled of ammonia and caused minor throat irritation.
Photos of the syringe, which fell to the ground when the attacker was seized, appeared to show a light-brown liquid inside.
No one in the 100-strong crowd had a noticeable physical reaction to the substance.
Ms Omar’s office later issued a statement saying she was okay.
“I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work. I don’t let bullies win,” she later wrote on X.
ICE is leading Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, a central plank of his election offering.
Agents have targeted Minnesota in particular and its main cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, as part of Operation Metro Surge.
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The liberal-leaning cities have protested against the operation, with activists following officers, filming their activities, and blowing whistles to warn people of their movements.
Two protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, have been shot and killed by ICE agents – bringing tensions to a head.
Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised Ms Omar, with the US president calling her “garbage” last month.
He has also denigrated her birthplace, Somalia. The president told a crowd in Iowa on Tuesday: “She comes from a country that’s a disaster… I think it’s not even a country.”
Ms Omar, now a US citizen, fled Somalia with her family when she was a child as a civil war tore the country apart.
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.
