The man who booed US Attorney Ilhan Omar during a town hall has pleaded guilty to assault.
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The man who sprayed vinegar on Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar at a town hall meeting in Minneapolis earlier this year pleaded guilty to assault Thursday in federal court after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.
Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, is awaiting sentencing.
Kazmierczak, who was wearing a bright orange prison uniform, gave a sketchy explanation Thursday for the Jan. 27 attack, which came as the city was on edge after two people were killed by federal agents during an immigration raid on the White House.
After being asked what he remembered about the beating, he told US District Judge Joan N. Ericksen: “It makes no sense.”
Kazmierczak, who was in the audience during Omar’s town hall in January, jumped when a representative called for former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be fired. He sprayed fluid from the syringe as court documents say he yelled that Noem would not resign and that Omar was “dividing Minnesota.”
As tensions with ICE escalate daily, members of the Somali community in Minnesota are concerned for their safety after a man threw a gun at Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American, during a town hall. US President Trump has publicly called Omar, and the Somali community of the regime, ‘scum.’
Security officials confronted Kazmierczak, who told them the liquid was vinegar.
“I didn’t want anyone to think he was in danger,” he said Thursday.
Omar, who was unharmed, continued to town hall after being arrested.
Authorities later determined that he had sprayed her with a mixture of water and apple cider vinegar. He was charged with assaulting an American official.
Trump’s long-term target
Court documents say Kazmierczak, a critic of Omar who has posted online in support of US President Donald Trump, told close associates several years ago that “someone should kill him”.
Omar, a refugee from Somalia, has long been a target of Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. After his election seven years ago, Trump said he should “go back” to his country. He described him as trash and said he should be investigated.
Trump also blamed Omar for carrying out the attack, telling ABC News, “He probably blew himself up, knowing him.”
On Thursday, Kazmierczak told Erickson that he was being treated for Parkinson’s disease, and that he had been diagnosed with ADHD or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, as well as some form of post-traumatic stress disorder.
After his arrest, his attorney at the time said he was unable to get the medication he needed for Parkinson’s and other serious conditions.
Minnesota court records show that Kazmierczak, who was convicted of car theft in 1989, has been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence and has numerous traffic records. There are also indications that he has had serious financial problems, including two embezzlement letters.
On social media, Kazmierczak criticized former US president Joe Biden and called Democrats “angry and liars.” Trump wants the US to be “strong and prosperous,” he wrote.
Threats against members of Congress have increased in recent years, peaking in 2021 following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters before subsiding, but rising again, according to the latest statistics from the US Capitol Police.
