Ilhan Omar Was Attacked By a Man Who Sprayed an "Unknown Substance" on Her

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has never shied away from controversy, and she's always been willing to state her beliefs openly and honestly. During a town hall in Minneapolis, though, Omar had to momentarily be on the defensive after a man approached her and sprayed a substance on her. The man was quickly apprehended by security and arrested.

Following the video of the incident, which quickly spread online, and appeared to show Congresswoman Omar leaping to her own defense, many wanted to know what substance she had been sprayed with. Here's what we know.

The substance that she was sprayed with has not yet been identified, but it apparently didn't keep her from continuing her prepared remarks. According to Minneapolis police, per NBC, they "observed a man use a syringe to spray an unknown liquid” on Omar, and said that they then apprehended him and are planning to charge him with third-degree assault. “Representative Omar was uninjured and resumed speaking at the event," the statement continued.

The man, whose name is Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, is being held at the Hennepin County Jail and has not been formally charged yet. Video shows the man walking down the center aisle of a conference room, approaching Omar and saying, "You must resign," before he was tackled by security. You can also hear someone say, "Oh my God, he sprayed something on her," adding that it didn't smell too good.

Omar was urged by other speakers at the event to leave and get checked, but she insisted on continuing to speak.

“We will continue,” she said. “These f--king a--holes are not going to get away with this," she said.

While it seems like Congresswoman Omar is unharmed, she seemed willing to risk falling ill to finish her remarks. It's unclear what may have motivated the Kazmierczak to approach Omar in this way.

In the aftermath of the video going viral, some, particularly on the right, have suggested that Omar must have staged the event. This even includes the president.

“I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud,” President Trump told ABC News. “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”

The suggestion seems to be that, because Omar appeared to be ready for a fight instead of retreating, and because she insisted on continuing to deliver her remarks, she might have had the incident staged in order to make herself look good. There is no evidence that this was the case, and it seems possible that the incident made Omar look brave because she was actually being brave.

Until concrete evidence emerges to support the assertion that Omar staged the incident, we have to assume that it was real. Given the heightened political situation in Minneapolis, it's certainly believable that someone would feel the need to perpetrate this kind of assault. Here's hoping that the attack was a one-off, and Omar can continue to operate safely in public moving forward.