Lawmakers from both parties have condemned the attack on Ilhan Omar after the Minnesota congresswoman was sprayed with an unknown substance during her town hall on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, responded to comments from Donald Trump who quipped that “she probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”

Jeffries countered: “That’s a disgusting comment and the president’s lies and misinformation continue to fan the flames of these types of violent incidents.

“Ilhan Omar, of course, is a strong, courageous, hardworking public servant. This should have never happened,” he continued.

Trump has long targeted Omar, who arrived in the US as a refugee as a child and has been a citizen for more than 25 years. His xenophobic attacks on her have ramped up in recent weeks as he has targeted Minnesota’s Somali community. He recently called for her to be “sent back to Somalia” in a post on Truth Social.

After the attack, lawmakers have directly blamed Trump’s rhetoric.

Jasmine Crockett, the Democratic representative from Texas, said in a social media post that she was “disgusted” and “outraged”. “Let’s be clear: nonstop hate and dangerous rhetoric from Trump and his allies has fueled this type of violence.”

The Minnesota representative Angie Craig said she was “relieved that my colleague Ilhan is safe”.

“The rise in political violence in our state must stop,” she posted on X. “We are better than this Minnesota.”

Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic senator of Maryland, said he was “relieved” that Omar was not injured. “But Trump’s response was shameful – & Republicans should say so. His baseless & racist attacks against her have no doubt endangered her. His inability to condemn the attack is appalling,” he wrote on X.

Greg Landsman, a Democratic representative from Ohio, said “the rhetoric against a sitting member of Congress is un-American” and leads to more violence. “Everyone, regardless of political affiliation, should approach this moment with humility and grace. That’s how we break this cycle of division and hate.”

Republicans have also spoken out against the apparent act of political violence. The South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace wrote that she was “deeply disturbed” to learn that Omar was attacked at the town hall.

“Regardless of how vehemently I disagree with her rhetoric – and I do – no elected official should face physical attacks. This is not who we are.”

Don Bacon, a representative of Nebraska, said on social media: “Political violence is always wrong. We always have the right to free speech and to petition the government, but political violence must be dealt with sternly.”

He added that the attacker “needs to spend sometime [sic] behind bars”.

Omar is the second lawmaker of color to be physically attacked in the last week. The Florida representative Maxwell Frost said he was punched in the face on Friday at the Sundance film festival in Utah by a man who said Trump would deport him.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — David Reick, president of Crown Hill Cemetery and the Crown Hill Foundation, joined News 8 on Daybreak to discuss an event that’s taking place Thursday at Crown Hill Cemetery.

The event “Do Not Omit the Obit” focuses on the history of obituaries in Indianapolis as part of a speaker series. A discussion will be lead on the significance of obituaries as cultural artifacts, reflecting societal norms and changes more than 150 years.

The event will take place in the Gothic Chapel at 6 p.m., with fewer than ten tickets remaining for attendees interested in exploring how obituaries have evolved over the years, including their impact from technology and social media.

Reick noted that attendees will see examples of 150- to 200-year-old obituaries, which were once purely informational, now reflecting deeper societal changes. The discussion will dive into how memorialization has shifted from printed newspapers to lasting online tributes, particularly through platforms like Facebook, where obituaries are treated as living memorials.

Future topics in the speaker series include the role of ceremonial funeral teams, featuring discussions on funerals for notable figures such as former Vice President Dick Cheney and former President Jimmy Carter. Additionally, Reick mentioned upcoming talks on Civil War POW camps in Indianapolis and the conservation of Indiana’s landscape, emphasizing the diverse cultural and historical influences of the area. This is the second of five talks in the series.

Attendees interested in the event can still purchase tickets, which are selling for $10.

Remaining speaker series events are planned throughout the coming months, each exploring unique aspects of cultural history and memorialization.

CLEVELAND — A snow squall didn’t stop anti-ICE protesters from taking to the streets in Cleveland this Tuesday.

“It’s just so in your face,” Mike Bellamy, one of the protest organizers, said. “It makes it hard not to come out here even in weather like this. You just have to speak out.”

Bellamy and others braved the cold to protest President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Tuesday’s demonstration was planned in response to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis over the weekend, but it was just a few weeks ago that Bellamy helped plan another protest after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in her car.

“They were murdered for serving the people, and everybody here sees that,” he said. “Of course, they’re not the only ones that got murdered. There are dozens others, who have been murdered off camera, in the detention facilities while being arrested.”

Top Trump officials called Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse for a Veterans Affairs hospital, a “domestic terrorist,” saying he brandished a gun and posed a threat to federal agents, but video of the shooting does not appear to show Pretti holding a firearm. 

Faith leaders from across Cleveland are also expressing their support for the Minneapolis community. Representatives from the Fifth Christian Church, Christ Episcopal Church, the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and more held a press conference calling on people to participate in a nationwide strike planned for Friday. They’re asking people to skip class or work and not spend any money.

“We cannot be the people who sit idly by and hope somebody else will do something someday,” Rev. Charles Graves of the Christ Episcopal Church in Shaker Heights said. “If not us, who? If not now, when? How long will you put up with the injustices of our neighbors being kidnapped in the dark of night and in broad daylight?”

President Trump is changing his immigration approach in Minneapolis, pulling Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino out of the city and replacing him with Border Czar Tom Homan, but it’s not enough for organizers, who say they won’t stop until ICE is out of their communities completely.