What it was like in the room when a man threw a substance on Omarpublished at 15:33 GMT
Ana Faguy
Reporting from Minneapolis
We travelled to north Minneapolis last night to hear Ilhan Omar
speak about the ongoing federal immigration operation in her city.
We wanted to hear from residents in the area and Omar about how
they were feeling just days after Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents.
In the basement where her town hall was happening, it was a sauna.
They couldn’t recalibrate the heat, so it was blasting. There were 100 or so
people there to listen to their congresswoman, and a lot of press.
For the first chunk of the event, it was a standard town hall, local officials talked about trash pickup. When Omar took the podium,
much of her remarks centred on the presence of ICE in Minneapolis.
It was just after she mentioned wanting the removal of Homeland Security
Secretary Krisit Noem when a man in a coat and burgundy shirt
charged toward her.
It was a moment of chaos as we all realised what was happening.
The man shouted but we couldn’t make out the words.
Those towards the front of the room smelt the sour, orange-coloured
liquid that Minneapolis police said the suspect sprayed at her.
As police and Omar’s security carried him away, he shouted “she’s
pitting us against each other”.
Omar continued her remarks, but the sudden incident – and the
lingering tension in the city – was still at the front of everyone’s
minds.
Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, has been charged with third-degree assault and is being held in custody, the local sheriff’s office said.
