Man gets 14 months for vinegar attack on Omar

A Minnesota man who sprayed apple cider vinegar at U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar during a Minneapolis town hall was sentenced Thursday to 14 months in prison, nearly eight months after an attack prosecutors said was planned in advance and driven by political hostility.

Anthony James Kazmierczak, identified by The Guardian as 56 and by Al Jazeera as 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen after pleading guilty to assaulting a U.S. officer. He also received three years of supervised release, including an order barring contact with Omar. U.S. marshals escorted him from the courtroom after the sentence was imposed.

“This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment act,” Ericksen said, noting that Kazmierczak had secured tickets to the town hall weeks before the Jan. 27 assault. “An attack on a public figure is not a political statement. It is misguided, selfish and inconsistent with any concept of a free or democratic society.”

The judge said spraying anything at an elected official “is a terrifying thing. And you knew that when you did it.”

Witnesses said Kazmierczak jumped up from the audience and sprayed liquid from a syringe at Omar, a Democratic House member whose district includes Minneapolis. Video cited by Al Jazeera showed him sitting in the front row before leaping toward her. He could be heard yelling, “You must resign,” and saying Omar was “splitting Minnesota apart.”

Omar’s security officers tackled Kazmierczak and turned him over to police. Authorities later determined the liquid was a mixture of water and apple cider vinegar. Omar was not injured and continued the town hall after the arrest.

Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Kazmierczak had texted at least three people indicating he planned to do something at the meeting involving Omar but would not answer questions about his intent. He also sent messages to a neighbor arranging care for his dog and asking for bail bond company contact information.

Kazmierczak, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, shook visibly at times in court and spoke quietly, sometimes wiping away tears. His attorney, John Fossum, argued that Kazmierczak had not been taking his mental health medications before the attack, lowering his inhibitions and contributing to what happened.

“I’ve spent enough time in jail thinking,” Kazmierczak said. “I really apologize to her for having put her through that,” he added, referring to Omar. After the attack, he wrote to Omar, “I’m sorry if I scared you.” At an earlier hearing, when Ericksen asked what he remembered, Kazmierczak said, “It’s fuzzy.”

The sentencing memo said Kazmierczak had long struggled with alcohol abuse, had “a history of mental and emotional health concerns,” and had health problems tied to his 2022 Parkinson’s diagnosis.

The assault occurred as Minneapolis was facing a federal immigration crackdown that drew protests, arrests and the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal officers. Al Jazeera reported that Omar had been calling for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the resignation of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over her management of federal border agents in Minneapolis during “Operation Metro Surge,” President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

Omar, a refugee from Somalia and naturalized U.S. citizen, has long faced anti-immigrant rhetoric from Trump. In 2019, after her election to Congress, Trump said she should “go back” to her country of birth. He has also described her as “garbage” and said she should be investigated.

In social media posts, Kazmierczak criticized former President Joe Biden, referred to Democrats as “angry and liars,” and wrote that Trump wants the United States to be “stronger and more prosperous.”

“This assault is yet another example of a dangerous national trend: people channeling political hatred into criminal acts,” U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said after Kazmierczak pleaded guilty in May, according to Al Jazeera.