Rep. Ilhan Omar said President Trump\u2019s rhetoric fueled an attack in which a man sprayed her with an unknown substance during a Minneapolis news conference.<\/b>
\nRep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., on Wednesday blamed President Donald Trump for an attack in which she was sprayed with a substance by a man during a news conference, saying the commander in chief was \u00ab\u00a0obsessed\u00a0\u00bb with her.
Speaking at the Karmel Mall in Minneapolis, Omar reiterated calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement the day after 55-year-old Anthony James Kazmierczak allegedly attacked the congresswoman with an unknown chemical spray.
\u00ab\u00a0I think my presence here should tell you that the fear and intimidation doesn’t work on me\u00a0\u00bb, Omar told reporters and her supporters during a news conference.
\u00ab\u00a0What the facts have shown since I’ve gotten into elected office is that 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.\u00a0\u00bb
The progressive lawmaker said the attacks from Trump began almost immediately upon her taking office in 2019 during his first term in the White House.
\u00ab\u00a0I became a freshman who nobody should have actually known I existed because I wielded no power to having the most death threats of any member of Congress\u00a0\u00bb, she said. \u00ab\u00a0To the point where I had to have six Capitol Police officers providing 24-hour detail to me and my family. And then Biden got elected, and for four years it almost plummeted. Then he came back into office, and he resumed his vitriol.
\u00ab\u00a0And now my death threats are the highest of the members of Congress.\u00a0\u00bb
Trump has repeatedly criticized Omar and other progressive lawmakers over a number of their policy positions and their opposition to his agenda.
Omar then recalled Tuesday’s incident in which Kazmierczak used a syringe to squirt liquid on Omar after she called for the abolition of ICE and the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal agents conducting immigration enforcement operations.
Kazmierczak was immediately tackled by security and remains jailed on a preliminary third-degree assault charge, authorities said.
When asked about the attack on Omar, Trump suggested it may have been staged.
\u00ab\u00a0No. I don\u2019t think about her\u00a0\u00bb, he reportedly . \u00ab\u00a0I think she\u2019s a fraud. I really don\u2019t think about that. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.\u00a0\u00bb
Omar said her alleged attacker was \u00ab\u00a0upset that Trump’s order to deport Somalis was not yielding enough deportations of Somalis.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0I 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 and if he wasn’t so obsessed with me\u00a0\u00bb, she said.
\u00ab\u00a0It is ironic that just last night he was on stage moments before I was attacked talking about me, and then when asked about my attack, he said, ‘I don’t think about her.'\u00a0\u00bb
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.<\/p>\n