Man Who Sprayed Ilhan Omar With Vinegar To Change Plea To Guilty
Anthony James Kazmierczak will plead guilty May 7 to a federal assault charge after squirting Rep. Ilhan Omar with vinegar at a Minneapolis town hall on Jan. 27.
Prosecutors say Kazmierczak faces a federal assault charge and that he told an associate "somebody should kill" Omar, evidence they cite for intent. Video shows he squirted apple cider vinegar mixed with water. Omar was uninjured and continued the event amid a chaotic onstage rush.
The episode traces back to a 2022 federal probe that exposed the Feeding Our Future fraud, which siphoned over $250 million from pandemic-era child nutrition programs in Minnesota. Federal scrutiny of the Somali-American community and the fraud helped prompt Operation Metro Surge, a December 1, 2025 deployment of ICE agents to Minneapolis-St. Paul. The operation expanded under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in January 2026 and led to mass arrests, protests, and the fatal shooting of Renee Good on January 7. Omar held the Jan. 27 town hall to condemn the raids and call for Noem's resignation, placing the event at the center of heated local debate.
Initial headlines and social posts cast the episode as a violent assault on a congresswoman. Further reporting and review of video footage found the spray was apple cider vinegar mixed with water and caused no injuries. Prosecutors nevertheless moved the case to the federal docket, citing the suspect's alleged statements as evidence of criminal intent.
📊 Relevant Data
Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old unarmed American woman and mother of three, was fatally shot three times by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, during a confrontation involving her and her wife challenging the agent.
Renee Good was shot three times, autopsy into Minneapolis killing by ICE agent finds — The Guardian
Under 18 U.S. Code § 111, the federal charge of assaulting a United States officer carries penalties ranging from up to 1 year imprisonment for simple assault, up to 8 years if involving physical contact or intent to commit another felony, and up to 20 years if a deadly weapon is used or bodily injury occurs.
18 U.S. Code § 111 - Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees — Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute
📌 Key Facts
- Defendant: Anthony James Kazmierczak, charged with one federal count of assaulting a U.S. officer
- Incident: Jan. 27, 2026 town hall in Minneapolis where he rushed the stage and sprayed vinegar at Rep. Ilhan Omar
- New development: April filing says he will plead guilty under an undisclosed settlement; change-of-plea hearing scheduled for May 7
- Kazmierczak has been held in custody after a magistrate cited the seriousness of the alleged assault and public-safety risks
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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