Speaking at a Minneapolis town hall on Tuesday night, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar was nearly assaulted and sprayed with an unknown substance by a 55-year-old man, who was promptly arrested.
The suspect, Anthony James Kazmierczak, attempted to lunge at Omar before a security guard tackled him to the ground. Omar was uninjured and finished speaking at the event without further incident. Kazmierczak has been charged with third-degree assault and remained in custody as of Wednesday morning.
“I’m a survivor, so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” Omar wrote on X. “I don’t let bullies win.”
In the minutes after videos of the incident went viral on social media, many viewers raised the same question: Was the attempted assault staged, or was it a genuine attack?
Odd… Ilhan Omar gave a quick glance at the guy right before he stood up. pic.twitter.com/32tm9jkSuA
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 28, 2026
What might sound like a cynical or dismissive view of the situation isn’t so simple, at least according to X users. The @endwokeness account was among those who claimed Omar glanced toward the crowd as if she were signaling that it was time for Kazmierczak to make his move. One response questioned why the room was not evacuated if someone sprayed an unknown, foul-smelling substance. Another said the possibility of the attempted assault being staged was “blatantly obvious.”
“She is trying to avoid that investigation into her $30 million by stupidly thinking she can hero herself out of this,” read one comment, referring to allegations that Omar has a net worth exceeding $30 million. “Instead of FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT it’s STAGED STAGED STAGED.”
Another added, “Please tell me someone is looking into this. Interview the man. With his morality, he most likely got paid to do this; it’s just a matter of the correct setup, then he will talk.”
Others compared Omar to Jussie Smollett, who reported a fake hate crime to the Chicago Police Department in 2019. Smollett was later convicted on five felony counts after making four false police reports and allegedly paying two brothers to stage the incident involving a rope fashioned as a noose. However, that conviction was overturned in 2024 on procedural grounds by the Illinois Supreme Court.
There’s something very, VERY, off about the whole Ilhan Omar sprayed story…
The fact that all the cameras just so happen to be focused on and capturing the man who was sitting in the front row right up until the moment before he “attacked” her?
Staged.pic.twitter.com/Wmx3TTA6h2
— Based Bandita (@BasedBandita) January 28, 2026
“Guy really made no move toward her,” one user argued after invoking Smollett’s name. “She looked at him early, and then even moved toward him, kind of aggressively once he was up. Could it be real? Sure. But I’m not buying it at this point.”
As of publication, Omar had not addressed claims that the incident was staged.
However, at least one person familiar with Kazmierczak appeared to undermine that theory. Brian Kelley, Kazmierczak’s neighbor, told the New York Post that Kazmierczak asked him to watch his dog because he was planning to attend Omar’s town hall. Kelley said Kazmierczak told him he “might get arrested” at the event.
“I didn’t take him seriously. I’m surprised, but not overly surprised,” Kelley said. “I figured when he said he was going to go to the town hall, he’d stand up and say something stupid. I can’t imagine him assaulting or spraying somebody.”
Kelley added that Kazmierczak is a “pretty conservative guy” who has battled health issues, including Parkinson’s disease, in recent years.
