MINNEAPOLIS — A man attacked U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) while she was speaking during a Tuesday town hall meeting in Minneapolis, using a syringe to spray an unknown liquid at her, police said.

The assailant sprayed Omar with a strong-smelling liquid before he was tackled by security personnel, the Star Tribune reported. The man, who was identified as 55-year-old Anthony J. Kazmierczak, was arrested and booked into the Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of third-degree assault, according to Trevor Folke, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis Police Department.

Omar was calling for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the resignation or impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem just before 7 p.m. CT when she was attacked, The Washington Post reported.

“We must abolish ICE for good. And Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment,” Omar told the audience just before Kazmierczak, who was sitting in the front row in front of the representative, sprayed her with a syringe and began pointing at her, KTSP reported.

Warning: Social media clip below contains profanity.

Omar, who has been a frequent target of President Donald Trump, was shaken by the incident but resumed speaking after a short pause, The New York Times reported.

“Here’s the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand,” Omar said. “We are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.”

As she was escorted from the meeting by two security guards, Omar told reporters that she had “survived war, and I’m definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think they can throw at me, because I’m built that way.”

According to the Times, Kazmierczak does not appear to have ever been charged with a violent crime in Minnesota. He was convicted twice of driving while under the influence.

Court documents from a 2017 divorce case indicated that Kazmierczak was unemployed and receiving disability insurance payments, the newspaper reported.

Omar posted to X after the meeting, confirming that she was not injured.

“I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” she wrote. “I don’t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong,” the post said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the attack on Omar “unacceptable,” the Post reported.

“Violence and intimidation have no place in Minneapolis,” said in a tweet. “We can disagree without putting people at risk.”

Omar has been threatened before, according to the Times. Last week, the FBI said a man in Wichita, Kansas, posted on social media that he was “going to kill” Omar. While the man told an FBI agent that the Facebook post was his way of “venting,” he was still charged with threatening a federal official.

Several hours before the attack, Trump suggested that he might “de-escalate” the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that has left two protesters dead, the Times reported.

While speaking at a rally in Iowa, the president criticized Omar.

“She comes from a country (Somalia) that’s a disaster. Probably it’s considered, I think, the worst — it’s not even a country, OK?“ Trump said. ”It barely has a government."

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