An unidentified man assaulted Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota on Tuesday night while she was giving a speech as part of a town hall meeting in north Minneapolis. If you watch the video, you can see that while she is calling for the resignation of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a disheveled man approaches her and sprays something on her from what has been reported as a syringe.
Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar sprayed by a man wielding a syringe with an unknown liquid during a town hall event in Minneapolis, while calling for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. pic.twitter.com/fMoFLqWV3s
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 28, 2026
Omar, apparently, was looking down at her notes when the man approached her and appeared to catch her by surprise. Security or members of her staff immediately tackled and subdued the man, who continued to shout something that was unintelligible on video, while being restrained before being removed from the room.
The stated purpose of the town hall meeting was for Omar to address the current unrest over the ICE operations in her city. It doesn’t seem that the agenda for the meeting included discussion of the current Somali corruption and fraud scandals in Minnesota.
This was billed as Omar’s first in-person town hall meeting for 2026. After briefly regrouping with her team at the podium at the front of the room after the incident, Omar decided to continue her remarks and the meeting. She appeared to be stunned but not rattled.
According to NBC News, “the man walked down the middle of the room and tried to spray a liquid at Omar while appearing to yell ‘you must resign,’ before a security guard restrained him.”
Reports are that when her team told her to get checked out, she replied, “That is what they want.” She then reportedly said, “We will continue. These f—— a–holes are not going to get away with this.”
In its own statement, Minneapolis police said its officers who were in the room at the time “observed a man use a syringe to spray an unknown liquid” onto Omar.
After she resumed speaking, she commented to the crowd, “He sprayed something on me…. It smells terrible.”
The man was removed from the room, taken to Hennepin County Jail, and charged with 3rd degree assault.
Speaking to reporters after the event, Omar said, “I survived war, and I’m definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think that they can throw at me, because I’m built that way.”
Omar’s calmness throughout, combined with how this incident suddenly made her a sympathetic figure in the wake of a horrible month of allegations of corruption, has led more than a few X users to ponder whether this was staged.
Her reaction (aggressive) makes this look staged. She showed no fear and made an aggressive looking move. I don’t buy for one second that would be her true reaction.
— Tamarisk ⚔️ (@thetamarisktree) January 28, 2026
This might be a better angle.
This footage of the Ilhan Omar incident looks suspect.
She runs at a could-be assassin like she’s going to disarm him, returns to finish her speech covered in a potentially deadly substance.
Trump announced yesterday that her finances are being looked at.pic.twitter.com/ucp9bxjSGe
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) January 28, 2026
It would have been natural for Omar to put a halt to her speech until they could find out whether the liquid that was sprayed onto her was toxic or dangerous. This would have been in her best interest. The fact that this was not done also raised some concerns.
They should have cleared the room following the substance being sprayed. That guy could have infected everyone in that room with that substance.
Was watching that live as it happened.
She should have stopped speaking and called authorities and got HAZMAT involved
— Providence Wire (@providence_wire) January 28, 2026
Let’s hope that whatever was sprayed on Omar was not toxic and did not cause any harm to her or those around her, and that she is safe and healthy. Let’s also hope we learn everything about the man who assaulted her, from his identity to his motives. That would be the only way to put initial speculation to rest…or confirm it.
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