Reporter's Notebook: Omar’s long history of controversy keeps her in the spotlight

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is one of the most controversial members of Congress.

Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., are the first two Muslim women ever elected to Congress. Along with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., they form the original members of the Squad, a team of progressive women who entered Congress simultaneously in 2019.

The quartet is visible. They’re outspoken. And they, like many other lawmakers, are often the targets of threats or even violence itself.

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Authorities charged a man in 2019 for threatening to kill Tlaib. Omar has received menacing voicemails — even suggesting she had something to do with 9/11. A Texas man faced charges for wanting to assassinate Ocasio-Cortez in 2021. The same year, the House voted to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., for posting an animated video that depicted him killing a character resembling the New York Democrat.

A man lunged at Omar during a town hall meeting in Minneapolis a few weeks ago, spraying her with what appeared to be apple cider vinegar from a syringe.

"We must abolish ICE for good. And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must face impeachment," declared Omar at the meeting.

That’s when Anthony James Kazmierczak sprang at Omar, spraying her with a stinky, brown liquid.

"It smells terrible!" exclaimed someone in the crowd.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! It’s all over the place!" an aide shouted. 

"We need you to get checked!" hollered someone else.

But Omar maintained her composure and continued the town hall meeting.

"Just give me ten minutes, I beg you," said Omar, worried that her aides might cancel the rest of the meeting. "Please don’t let them have the show. Here is the reality that people like this ugly man don’t understand. We are Minnesota strong, and we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us."

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Police later charged Kazmierczak with third-degree assault, arguing he "forcibly assaulted, opposed, impeded, intimidated and interfered" with Omar.

"One thing that ICE has succeeded in doing is make Minneapolis residents love Minneapolis police," said Omar, drawing laughter.

Omar frequently catches criticism from President Donald Trump. After the attack, the president suggested that Omar "probably sprayed herself." The president also signaled there was a DOJ probe into Omar.

"The DOJ and Congress are looking at ‘Congresswoman’ Ilhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars. Time will tell all," the president posted to Truth Social.

"I was told that Ilhan Omar is worth $30 million. She never had a job. She's a crooked Congressman," said Trump during a speech.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt recently questioned how it’s "possible" that the congresswoman may now be worth tens of millions of dollars since coming to office in 2019.

"Is she connected to the fraud rings that we have seen taking place with her state and her own district?" asked Leavitt. "It’s a question the American people are asking, and the president believes it’s one worth answering."

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has now opened a formal investigation into the finances of Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett. Comer defended his move, saying the House Ethics Committee gave him the green light to do so. Comer said the Ethics panel couldn’t touch Mynett because he’s not a member. That may be true. But lawmakers must state the wealth of congressional spouses on financial disclosure reforms. Omar claims her money came from Mynett and his consulting business. The congresswoman says she did nothing wrong.

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We don’t know much yet about Omar’s finances. But she is a lightning rod. It’s hard to lower the temperature when you have a controversial lawmaker who has said questionable things about 9/11 and faced attacks from the president and the White House.

But fellow lawmakers are worried about threats to lawmakers.

"That’s assault," said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., when asked about Kazmierczak spraying Omar. "You could dislike somebody's positions. You can be vocal about that. You want to protest somebody? That's fine. Have at it. But disrupting their meetings, their rallies, their town halls and assaulting them? No way."

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., noted that "the president never disappoints" when blasting Omar.

As a member of the Senate Democratic leadership, Durbin gets a U.S. Capitol Police security detail. But in this environment, the Senate’s number two Democrat says he still feels "vulnerable."

Durbin recounted a story recently about how someone "confronted me in a situation. I thought if she had a gun in her hand, I would be dead. She was so angry and emotional. And unfortunately, that consideration is part of public life in America today."

Durbin pointed out that even Trump has faced two threats on his life: One in Butler, Pennsylvania. The other at Mar-a-Lago. And more recently, police shot and killed Austin Tucker Martin when he tried to break into the president’s Florida compound.

This comes as U.S. Capitol Police released its recent threat report against lawmakers. For 2025, USCP says there were 14,938 bona fide threats against members of Congress that demanded an investigation. That’s up from just 9,474 the year before. And 8,008 in 2023.

Capitol Police also arrested 18-year-old Carter Camacho of Smyrna, GA, last month. Camacho charged at the Capitol, sprinting several hundred yards with a shotgun and wearing a tactical vest. Police say he had a Kevlar helmet and a gas mask inside his car. Camacho’s motive was unclear.

There will be other threats and incidents, like the man running toward the Capitol. Some reverberate for years, like when House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and others were shot at a congressional baseball practice. And the reason the USCP numbers are so high is that lawmakers and their staff routinely field phone calls and emails that threaten harm. Sometimes to the families of lawmakers.

It’s enough to scare some people off from serving in office. Politicians have always faced threats. But what’s frightening is that it appears to grow a little worse every year. The stats bear that out. The Capitol Police do a good job. But the scariest part is that no law enforcement agency wields the capacity to protect such a large contingent of people from harm.