WASHINGTON—A man pleaded guilty on Thursday to assaulting Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) during a January town hall in which the lawmaker condemned President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown, the Justice Department said.
“Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, pleaded guilty today to one count of Assaulting a United States Officer in U.S. District Court,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Kazmierczak admitted in a Thursday hearing before U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen that he “planned the assault and that he did not agree with Representative Omar’s political views,” the Justice Department said.
In her remarks during the town hall, Omar was criticizing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for its crackdown in Minnesota and the fatal shootings by federal agents of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
Kazmierczak sprayed Omar with apple cider vinegar from a syringe, which landed on Omar’s clothing and skin, the Justice Department said, adding that lab analysis confirmed the liquid contained acetic acid. Omar was uninjured in the attack.
Kazmierczak gestured and shouted at Omar during the town hall before security guards subdued him. He was subsequently arrested. The town hall meeting in Minneapolis was temporarily disrupted, but Omar later continued her remarks.
