Man tackled to ground after spraying unknown substance at Rep. Ilhan Omar

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.

The man was arrested and booked on suspicion of third-degree assault, police said. The suspect was not identified.

The Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement that officers at the event, which was focused on federal immigration enforcement in the region, witnessed what happened.

“Minneapolis Police Officers working at a planned event observed a man use a syringe to spray an unknown liquid onto US Representative Ilhan Omar,” the department said.

Omar was uninjured and continued speaking, police said.

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.

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.