{"id":46369,"date":"2026-01-28T11:44:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T19:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=46369"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:41:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:41:40","slug":"i-dont-let-bullies-win-ilhan-omar-assaulted-at-town-hall-amid-repeated-trump-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/i-dont-let-bullies-win-ilhan-omar-assaulted-at-town-hall-amid-repeated-trump-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I Don\u2019t Let Bullies Win\u2019: Ilhan Omar Assaulted at Town Hall Amid Repeated Trump Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/us-politics-omar.jpg?id=63412632&amp;width=1200&amp;height=400&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=0%2C333%2C0%2C333\" alt=\"US-POLITICS-OMAR\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A man is tackled after spraying an unknown substance at US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) during a town hall she was hosting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 27, 2026.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Photo by Octavio Jones \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cHere\u2019s the reality that people like this ugly man don\u2019t understand,\u201d said the Democratic lawmaker following the attack. \u201cWe are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/jon-queally\">Jon Queally<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jan 27, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Democratic Congresswoman&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/ilhan-omar\">Ilhan Omar<\/a>&nbsp;of Minnesota was assaulted on Tuesday evening during a town hall event in Minneapolis by a man who squirted some kind of liquid from a syringe on the lawmaker amid heightened tensions in the state and following a series of baseless allegations and intensifying insults directed at her by US President&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/donald-trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During public remarks to local constituents\u2014just as she called for ICE to be abolished and that Secratary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem should \u201cresign of face impeachment\u201d\u2014video footage of the attack shows a man wearing a black jacket sitting in the front row abruptly rise from his seat and lunge toward Omar\u2019s podium as he sprays something at her with a syringe in his right hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RECOMMENDED&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-ilhan-omar-attack\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/us-representative-ilhan-omar-d-minn-reacts-after-being-sprayed-with-an-unknown-substance-by-a-man-as-she-hosted-a-town-hall-i.jpg?id=63509827&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=170%2C0%2C171%2C0\" alt=\"Blamed for Fueling Assault on Ilhan Omar, Trump Says \u2018She Probably Had Herself Sprayed\u2019\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-ilhan-omar-attack\">Blamed for Fueling Assault on Ilhan Omar, Trump Says \u2018She Probably Had Herself Sprayed\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-doj-ilhan-omar\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/rep-ilhan-omar-d-minn-is-seen-at-a-press-conference-with-other-members-of-the-congressional-progressive-caucus-on-funding-fo.jpg?id=63293706&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=170%2C0%2C171%2C0\" alt=\"DOJ Investigating Omar Called 'Continuation of Trump\u2019s Revenge Campaign'\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-doj-ilhan-omar\">DOJ Investigating Omar Called \u2018Continuation of Trump\u2019s Revenge Campaign\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While apparently unharmed, Omar first backs away before charging at the man, before he is tackled by security, and other bystanders intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) assaulted during town hall meeting: &quot;Here&#39;s the reality that people like this ugly man don&#39;t understand; we are Minnesota strong and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ud5l3yP4lQ\">pic.twitter.com\/Ud5l3yP4lQ<\/a><\/p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cspan\/status\/2016320453132869910?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 28, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOh my god,\u201d someone off camera can be heard saying, \u201cHe sprayed something on her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maintaining her composure after the man was subdued, Omar said, \u201cHere\u2019s the reality that people like this ugly man don\u2019t understand; we are Minnesota strong, and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/man-tackled-to-ground-after-spraying-unknown-substance-on-rep-ilhan-omar-at-minneapolis-town-hall\/601572036\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According to<\/a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;<em>Star Tribune<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Minneapolis police said officers saw a man use a syringe to spray an unknown liquid at Omar. They immediately arrested him and booked him at the county jail for third-degree assault, spokesperson Trevor Folke said in an email. Police also said forensic scientists responded to the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Omar continued the town hall after the man was ushered out of the room by her security detail, saying she would not be intimidated. Journalists said there was a strong, vinegar-like smell when the man pushed on the syringe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walking out afterward, Omar said she felt a little flustered but was not hurt. She was going to be screened by a medical team.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Over recent weeks\u2014as Minnesota has been the focus of nationwide outrage due to the authoritarian tactics used by federal&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/immigration\">immigration<\/a>&nbsp;agents deployed and the killing of two observers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti\u2014Trump, a racist, has repeatedly targeted Omar with false suggestions that she has perpetrated fraud due to her personal financial disclosures and used her Somali heritage to insult her as a \u201c<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-anti-somali-racism\" target=\"_blank\">garbage person<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>X post:  <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hasanthehun\/status\/2016316905079111875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2016316905079111875%7Ctwgr%5E9e663761e5095d9e65c44c5b107515ccd10e8a39%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Filhan-omar-assaulted-town-hall\">https:\/\/x.com\/hasanthehun\/status\/2016316905079111875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2016316905079111875%7Ctwgr%5E9e663761e5095d9e65c44c5b107515ccd10e8a39%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Filhan-omar-assaulted-town-hall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m ok. I\u2019m a survivor so this small agitator isn\u2019t going to intimidate me from doing my work,\u201d Omar said in a post shortly after the incident. \u201cI don\u2019t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many credited Omar for her fortitude in the face of the attack, both during and after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cllhan is toughest lawmaker in Congress,\u201d said journalist Pablo Manr\u00edquez. \u201cNo one gets more hate, then goes right back to doing the work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/jon-queally\">Jon Queally<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jon Queally is managing editor of Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/jon-queally\">Full Bio &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A man is tackled after spraying an unknown substance at US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) during a town hall she was hosting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 27, 2026.&nbsp; (Photo by Octavio Jones \/ AFP via Getty Images) \u201cHere\u2019s the reality that people like this ugly man don\u2019t understand,\u201d&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/i-dont-let-bullies-win-ilhan-omar-assaulted-at-town-hall-amid-repeated-trump-attacks\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46369"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46390,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46369\/revisions\/46390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}