MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man who sprayed vinegar at Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar at a town hall meeting in Minneapolis pleaded guilty to assault Thursday in federal court after reaching a deal with prosecutors.
Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, is awaiting sentencing.
Kazmierczak, dressed in bright orange jail clothing, gave only a fragmentary explanation Thursday of the Jan. 27 assault, which came as the city was already on edge after the fatal shootings of two people by federal agents during a White House crackdown that brought thousands of immigration officers to Minnesota.
After being asked what he remembered of the assault, he told U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen: “It's fuzzy.”
Kazmierczak, who was in the audience during Omar’s January town hall, leaped up when the representative called for the ouster of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He sprayed liquid from a syringe as court documents say he shouted that Noem would not resign and that Omar was “splitting Minnesota apart.”
Security officers tackled Kazmierczak, who told them the liquid was vinegar.
“I didn’t want anybody to think she was in danger,” he said Thursday.
Omar, who was not injured, continued with the town hall after the arrest.
Authorities later determined he’d sprayed her with a mixture of water and apple cider vinegar. He was charged with assaulting a U.S. officer.
Court documents say Kazmierczak, a critic of Omar who has made online posts supportive of President Donald Trump, told a close associate several years ago that “somebody should kill” her.
Source: WPLG
