Man Who Sprayed Vinegar on Rep. Ilhan Omar Sentenced to 14 Months

A Minnesota resident who pleaded guilty to spraying vinegar on Rep. Ilhan Omar earlier this year was sentenced on Sept. 17 to 14 months in prison. 

Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, admitted to spraying Omar with a mixture of apple-cider vinegar and water from a syringe as she spoke at a January town hall in Minneapolis. 

During a plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen in May, Kazmierczak said he planned the attack and disagreed with Omar’s political views. He also told the judge his memory of the attack was “fuzzy.”

In addition to the 14-month prison sentence requested by prosecutors, Kazmierczak was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to avoid contact with Omar. 

The attack took place as Omar, a Somali native, was criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to ramp up Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in Minnesota. 

An FBI investigation showed Kazmierczak had obtained a ticket for the event two weeks prior. He also texted three people hinting “that he planned to do something at the meeting that involved Rep. Omar, but he would not answer their questions about his intent,” a court filing said. 

Footage of the attack shows Kazmierczak spraying the substance on the congresswoman, who responded by approaching her attacker with fists raised in a fighting stance while Omar’s security team subdued him.

One day after the incident, Omar was asked if she blamed Trump’s rhetoric for the attack. The president and the congresswoman had often criticized each other publicly; Trump, in an interview with an ABC reporter, called Omar a “fraud,” and said he thought the attack had been staged.

“What the facts have shown since I’ve gotten into elected office is that every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket,” she said at a press conference on Jan. 28.

She added that those threats subsided when Joe Biden assumed the presidency, but rose again when Trump was reelected. She said she probably would not need the same level of security if Trump was not so “obsessed” with her. 

Omar later responded to accusations that she faked the attack, after social media posts questioned why she didn’t remove the contaminated clothing or immediately seek medical attention.

“I didn’t do any of those things because I fear losing my dignity more than I fear losing my life,” she said in a Jan. 29 post on X. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.