A man is facing criminal charges after video showed a Minnesota lawmaker being sprayed with an unknown liquid at a town hall event, amid weeks of unrest and violence in the midwestern state's Twin Cities.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat born in Somalia, was sprayed with a substance by a man as she spoke during the gathering on Jan. 27.
The man rushed Omar and sprayed her torso with what appeared to be a syringe as she called for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be abolished and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached. The man shouted something toward Omar, but it wasn't clear what was said in footage from the incident.
Omar, a frequent rhetorical target for President Donald Trump was not hurt, Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson Trevor Folke said.
The attack comes amid growing tensions after federal immigration agents shot and killed two people in Minneapolis this month: Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who treated veterans, and Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old poet and mother of three. A third person was shot in Minneapolis on Jan. 14, the Department of Homeland Security said, but survived.
