Ilhan Omar attacker sentenced to more than a year in prison

Assailant sprayed vinegar at Representative Ilhan Omar, admitting political motives were behind the assault during her townhall.

United States Representative Ilhan Omar speaks during a news conference on January 28, 2026 in Minneapolis [Adam Gray/AP]

The man who sprayed apple cider vinegar at Democratic United States Representative Ilhan Omar during a town hall meeting in her district in Minneapolis was sentenced to a 14-month prison term after he pleaded guilty to an assault charge.

Appearing before District Judge Joan N Ericksen on Thursday, 55-year-old Anthony James Kazmierczak pleaded guilty to planning the January 27 assault, admitting he targeted the congresswoman over opposing political views. He had been charged with assaulting a US officer.

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It has been nearly eight months since Kazmierczak lunged towards the congresswoman and sprayed her with a dark water-and-vinegar mixture from a syringe, which landed on Omar’s clothing and skin.

The attack was captured on video and showed Kazmierczak, who sat in the front row of the town hall, leaping from the audience, after which he could be heard yelling, “You must resign” and that Omar was “splitting Minnesota apart”.

Kazmierczak was promptly subdued by Omar’s security team before being arrested. Omar was not injured in the attack and proceeded with the town hall.

The assault came as Omar had been calling for the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and the resignation of then-Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem over her management of federal border agents in Minneapolis during the shootings during “Operation Metro Surge,” President Donald Trump’s federal immigration crackdown in the state of Minnesota. The crackdown involved more than 2,000 officers in Minneapolis and Saint Paul and provoked intense civil unrest and led to the deaths of two US citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, at the hands of federal agents.

In an earlier hearing, Kazmierczak could not explain what happened in the assault.

“It’s fuzzy,” he told US Judge Ericksen when asked what he remembered.

The government sentencing memorandum, submitted to the court by prosecutors, said he had texted at least three people indicating his actions were premeditated, though he refused to answer questions about his specific intent.

He also messaged a neighbour to arrange for dog care and contacts for a bail bond company.

The sentencing memo said Kazmierczak had long struggled with alcohol abuse, had “a history of mental and emotional health concerns”, and also had a string of health issues tied to a 2022 diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. His lawyer, John Fossum, had argued that Kazmierczak had not been taking his mental health medication before the attack, lowering his inhibitions and contributing to what happened.

“I’ve spent enough time in jail thinking,” Kazmierczak said Thursday. “I really apologise to her for having put her through that,” he said, referring to Omar.

Kazmierczak wrote to Omar after the attack, “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

In social media posts, Kazmierczak had denounced former President Joe Biden and referred to Democrats as “angry and liars”, writing that Trump wants the US to be “stronger and more prosperous”.

“This assault is yet another example of a dangerous national trend: people channeling political hatred into criminal acts,” said US Attorney Daniel N Rosen after Kazmierczak pled guilty in May.

Omar, a Somali-American refugee and naturalised US citizen, has faced sustained mocking and anti-immigrant rhetoric from Trump throughout her congressional tenure.

袭击者向众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔喷洒醋，并承认袭击是出于政治动机。当时奥马尔正在参加市政厅会议。

美国众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔于2026年1月28日在明尼阿波利斯举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。[亚当·格雷/美联社]

在明尼阿波利斯市举行的民主党籍美国众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔的选区市政厅会议上，一名男子向她喷洒苹果醋，该男子在承认袭击罪后被判处 14 个月监禁。

周四，55岁的安东尼·詹姆斯·卡兹米尔扎克在地区法官琼·N·埃里克森面前认罪，承认策划了1月27日的袭击事件，并承认他因政治观点不同而将目标对准了这位女议员。他此前被控袭击美国军官。

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距离卡兹米尔扎克扑向这位女议员，并用注射器向她喷洒深色水醋混合物，溅到奥马尔的衣服和皮肤上，已经过去了近八个月。

袭击过程被视频记录下来，视频显示，坐在市政厅前排的卡兹米尔扎克从观众席上跳了起来，随后可以听到他大喊：“你必须辞职”，并称奥马尔正在“分裂明尼苏达州”。

卡兹米尔恰克在被奥马尔的安保团队迅速制服后被捕。奥马尔在袭击中没有受伤，并继续主持市政厅会议。

此次袭击发生之际，奥马尔正呼吁废除美国移民及海关执法局（ICE），并要求时任国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆辞职。她指责诺姆在“大都会突击行动”（Operation Metro Surge）期间对明尼阿波利斯联邦边境执法人员的管理不善，该行动是特朗普总统在明尼苏达州发起的联邦移民打击行动。此次行动在明尼阿波利斯和圣保罗两地出动了2000多名执法人员，引发了严重的社会动荡，并导致两名美国公民蕾妮·妮可·古德和亚历克斯·普雷蒂死于联邦执法人员之手。

在之前的听证会上，卡兹米尔扎克无法解释袭击事件的经过。

“有点模糊了，”当被问及他记得什么时，他告诉美国法官埃里克森。

检察官向法庭提交的政府量刑备忘录称，他曾向至少三个人发短信，表示他的行为是预谋的，但他拒绝回答有关其具体意图的问题。

他还给邻居发信息安排狗狗照料事宜，并提供了保释担保公司的联系方式。

量刑备忘录指出，卡兹米尔扎克长期酗酒，有“精神和情绪健康问题史”，并且还患有一系列与2022年确诊的帕金森病相关的健康问题。他的律师约翰·福苏姆辩称，卡兹米尔扎克在袭击发生前没有服用精神类药物，这降低了他的自制力，并导致了悲剧的发生。

“我在监狱里思考的时间够多了，”卡兹米尔扎克周四说。“我真的为让她经历这一切而向她道歉，”他指的是奥马尔。

袭击发生后，卡兹米尔恰克写信给奥马尔说：“如果我吓到你了，我很抱歉。”

卡兹米尔恰克在社交媒体上发帖谴责前总统乔·拜登，称民主党人“愤怒且撒谎”，并写道，特朗普希望美国“更强大、更繁荣”。

“这起袭击事件再次体现了一种危险的全国性趋势：人们将政治仇恨转化为犯罪行为，”美国检察官丹尼尔·N·罗森在卡兹米尔扎克于 5 月认罪后表示。

奥马尔是一位索马里裔美国难民，后入籍美国，在她的国会任期内，她一直面临着特朗普的持续嘲讽和反移民言论。