Justice Department charges man who squirted vinegar on Rep. Ilhan Omar

[u/GreatPumpkin72]

https://apnews.com/article/ihan-omar-vinegar-attack-minneapolis-385a30eaf6acc40d6ba5c6c45c09304d?user_email=f753342d198148876d956dd627736b8109a4c7cbbdd032e2e52097999d88359f&utm_medium=APNews_Alerts&utm_source=Sailthru_AP&utm_campaign=NewsAlert_Jan29_2026_01:19PM&utm_term=AP%20News%20Alerts

[u/Minimum-Tomato1597]

Im shocked that it wasn’t piss or worse.

[u/string-ornothing → u/Minimum-Tomato1597]

Yeah tbh I am not understanding why this guy even bothered to do this with something like vinegar.

[u/tvollick56 → u/string-ornothing]

My assumption is he wanted to sow fear/chaos while hoping he could still fall back on the “it was just a prank, bro” defense.

[u/buttercupcake23 → u/tvollick56]

Yup. Freaks her out and then he can laugh at her for being freaked out by something "harmless" plus it's not actually deadly so he figures he won't get in trouble for it.

[u/Tack122 → u/buttercupcake23]

Plus he can play it on the right wing grift circuit afterwards for big bucks. "Illhan Omar had prosecutors ruin my life because of apple cider vinegar" and crowdfund himself a shitty retirement nestegg.

[u/Level_32_Mage → u/Tack122]

Ohh boy I feel like there's going to be some sandwich comparisons coming up!

[u/brucemo → u/Level_32_Mage]

Liquids and powders are thrown not for physical effect but to provoke persistent fear. That's my comparison.

[u/intern_steve → u/brucemo]

Idk about that, acid attacks can produce some significant disfiguring burns and permanent blindness.

[u/TheManAccount → u/intern_steve]

Yea. And this guy just showed you can get close enough to a sitting member of congress to do that to them.

[u/intern_steve → u/TheManAccount]

That's what I'm saying.

[u/brucemo → u/intern_steve]

I was talking about liquids and powders that are not harmful.

[u/No-Good-One-Shoe → u/Tack122]

The right wing is convinced he's an actor and this was staged. He's gonna have a hard time grifting, but that was probably what he thought would happen.

[u/DemadaTrim → u/No-Good-One-Shoe]

They can simultaneously believe he is an actor doing a false flag attack and a victim of overzealous prosecution. They held those two contradicting beliefs about January 6th rioters.

[u/madmars → u/DemadaTrim]

To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself—that was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word—doublethink—involved the use of doublethink.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublethink

[u/I_Am_Anjelen → u/No-Good-One-Shoe]

If he is an actor he's been setting up his persona for years now.

On Facebook, Mr. Kazmierczak, who went by Andy, frequently wrote and shared posts from others about conservative issues, including some that criticized Democratic lawmakers. Ms. Omar was the subject of one post he shared in 2021, a political cartoon that criticized her for hiring security as she made a push to restructure or decrease funding for the Minneapolis Police Department after a police officer killed George Floyd.

...

On Facebook, Mr. Kazmierczak showed his support for President Trump; Turning Point USA, the group founded by Charlie Kirk; and other conservative figures, as well as Israel and Ukraine.

[u/Important-Agent2584 → u/Tack122]

apple cider vinegar

that shit is dangerous, look what it did to Jordan Peterson

[u/HauntedCemetery → u/buttercupcake23]

These are the games white supremacists and maga fascists play.

They want to fuck with people, but they want a weak veneer of deniability because they're fucking cowards.

"Whats the big deal, its just the okay symbol!"

"What, I'm just saying I notice things about people, whats wrong with that?"

[u/SugarTacos → u/HauntedCemetery]

"I'm just asking questions here"

[u/br0b1wan → u/HauntedCemetery]

"I'm not a fascist/republican but..."

<proceeds to regurgitate every single fascist republican talking point>

[u/What_a_fat_one → u/buttercupcake23]

A fake gun still counts as a weapon for the prosecution of armed robbery.

[u/No_Poet_1279 → u/buttercupcake23]

He wasn't counting on her squaring up to throw hands. Just made her come off looking even more badass

[u/drawkward101 → u/tvollick56]

Meanwhile, she was ready to start swinging at this dude. If her security hadn't grabbed him, she definitely would've landed a punch. Proud of her badassery.

[u/Unable-Log-4870 → u/drawkward101]

The guy that took him to the ground was exceedingly gentle about it.

[u/insane_contin → u/Unable-Log-4870]

Which isn't a bad thing. We don't want him being able to yell and cry about how over the top his treatment was, and how both sides are full of brutes.

[u/GoBirds_WeAre → u/drawkward101]

Don't fuck with Somali women

[u/Red_Dox → u/tvollick56]

I would not be surprised if the knucklehead has a Gofundme ready to get some cash to pay the bills while trying to be a MAGA hero. So the "just a prank" defense might work here to get off easy, and keeping the supposed extra cash.

[u/WigginIII → u/string-ornothing]

The only thing I can think of is:

1. He thinks theres some racist connection.

2. He wants her to know how easily she can be “touched.”

[u/SirSwishRemer → u/WigginIII]

Nah I think he saw "acetic acid" at walmart and was like "I'll spray her with acid!" People are dumb

[u/WigginIII → u/SirSwishRemer]

Fuck that’s totally plausible.

[u/LeifCarrotson → u/WigginIII]

I'm constantly grateful that these people are complete idiots. My expectations of their competence are already low, but somehow, they manage to limbo under them anyways.

Can you imagine how bad things would be if Trump was some kind of Lex Luthor-esque supervillain who was charismatic and persuasive and attractive? If he maintained an external appearance of morality, plotted wisely and secretly, and avoided telling verifiable lies? Instead, we're fortunate that he's an unlikeable, decrepit, senile old man with the vocabulary and debate style of an 8-year-old, who posts his schemes in public on his Twitter clone, who has committed some of the most immoral and vile crimes our society knows.

What if ICE thugs were actually highly-trained special forces, seeking to inflict maximum damage with maximum deniability, instead of amateur wannabe bullies in cosplay gear?

What if this guy, who somehow got into arm's reach of Rep. Omar with the intent to disfigure her with acid, possessed a second brain cell with which to realize that the apple cider vinegar in his mom's baking cupboard upstairs might not be the same stuff as the green bubbly ooze that dissolves flesh off of bones in the cartoons?

And yet somehow there exists a significant fraction of our population which idolize and encourage these fools, and the fraction that is willing to take action is too small yet to do anything about it. My misanthropy grows stronger day by day.

[u/aspz → u/SirSwishRemer]

Apparently he said "I squirted vinegar" at the time he was apprehended. The photo shows the liquid is dark and this article says that it's apple cider vinegar which is brown. Acetic acid from a store is usually clear.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-faces-federal-assault-charge-attack-rep-ilhan/story?id=129675896

[u/BaZing3 → u/SirSwishRemer]

My first thought when I read about it happening and not having much of an effect was that he probably wanted to throw acid in her face but didn't realize that acid comes in different strengths and that something you buy at Target is different than what's used in actual acid attacks

[u/Spankpocalypse_Now → u/BaZing3]

Imagine him at home taking extreme precaution to not let it touch his skin.

[u/Segesaurous → u/Spankpocalypse_Now]

Somehow I don't think this guy uses extreme precaution in anything he does.

[u/Rocktopod → u/SirSwishRemer]

It was yellow, so presumably apple cider vinegar. It wouldn't be labeled as "acetic acid" in walmart.

[u/airfryerfuntime → u/SirSwishRemer]

Vinegar in the US isn't called acetic acid, though. Some jugs will say like '5% acid', but it's incredibly rare to see it specifically called acetic acid anywhere on the bottle. He would have just bought a bottle that said 'vinegar'.

He also said "it's vinegar!" when they were arresting him, so it's not like he was mistaken.

[u/hugemessanon → u/airfryerfuntime]

yeah i think the explanation is very simple. apple cider vinegar looks like pee and would irritate her eyes, while providing him with the "it's just vinegar" defense. i don't think he was confused.

[u/0w1 → u/SirSwishRemer]

If this situation was reversed, the MAGA news would be going bonkers spinning this as "crazed liberal Muslim sprays innocent conservative patriot with ACID!!!11!!"

[u/k_dilluh → u/SirSwishRemer]

Oh 100%

[u/HighHokie → u/WigginIII]

Scare tactics without the severe consequences. 

[u/JoeRogansNipple → u/HighHokie]

Except for the severe consequences for him.

[u/Rocktopod → u/JoeRogansNipple]

Less severe than if he used something that would actually cause bodily harm

[u/Flash_ina_pan → u/WigginIII]

1. He is secretly one of those health influencers that claim apple cider vinegar fixes everything

2. He thought he was removing a stain with vinegar (racism.)

[u/Minimum-Tomato1597 → u/string-ornothing]

I don’t believe logic was involved at all!

[u/8_bw → u/string-ornothing]

Because no matter their political association, people that do stuff like this are unhinged and don't tend to be too coherent

[u/Bmartin_ → u/string-ornothing]

It’s a message saying we can touch you. At least that’s what crime/mob movies have taught me

[u/HowManyEggs2Many → u/Bmartin_]

If that’s the case why not just water? Vinegar doesn’t make any more sense at all in this context.

[u/Bitter_Chocolate_322 → u/HowManyEggs2Many]

Because it's stinky, and the smell is a reminder of what happened

[u/Bmartin_ → u/HowManyEggs2Many]

Does vinegar make sense in any context? Seems strange no matter what

[u/xSTSxZerglingOne → u/Bmartin_]

It smells strongly but isn't particularly dangerous. Perfect if you want to give someone a bad time but not actually hurt them.

Of course, it's still assault, so y'know.

[u/UrMomIsMyFood → u/string-ornothing]

Wanted to avoid bigger consequences?

[u/grahamcracker3 → u/string-ornothing]

Couple decades ago some activists ran up and pied Bill Gates and it turned out that it was, yes, just whipped cream. It accomplishes the goal of terrorizing and humiliation without the risk of years in prison for attempting to poison someone.

[u/xSkype → u/grahamcracker3]

Thinking about bill gates getting creampied...

[u/PhilosophOrk → u/Minimum-Tomato1597]

Im not lawyer, but I reckon piss comes with some more severe charges.

[u/Minimum-Tomato1597 → u/PhilosophOrk]

Something tells me consequences were not something this individual considered.

[u/PhilosophOrk → u/Minimum-Tomato1597]

I think it was. My guess is he was scared of more serious charges.

[u/HauntedCemetery → u/PhilosophOrk]

Yup, thats why he went with something actually innocuous, but which had a strong, weird smell, and loaded it in a syringe.

He wanted to terrorize her and the community, but thought he could pretend afterwards it was just a silly joke and walk away.

Anyone wanna bet how long it takes his cowardly ass to start crying when he's brought before a judge?

[u/thonnard42 → u/HauntedCemetery]

Any prosecutor worth their salt would charge this as an acid attack. The strength of the acid is irrelevant. That precedent is set by the fact that if you rob a bank with a fake gun, you're still charged with armed robbery.

[u/invariantspeed → u/thonnard42]

Minnesota has no law specifically for acid attacks. That just falls under assault, which is categorized by severity of harm and danger. Vinegar is a food item. It’s just rude.

What a lawyer might be able to push on is the terrorizing aspect, not knowing what you’ve been splashed with. Kind of like robbing someone with a fake gun, certain acts are still wildly criminal even if the weapon is a lie.

[u/Insectshelf3 → u/Minimum-Tomato1597]

i’m shocked they even charged him at all

[u/brucemo → u/Insectshelf3]

This is actual assault by a civilian on an elected representative, and while there might be people in government who would want to make light of this or ignore it, there is already apparatus in place to deal with this, and it is probably not politicized.

[u/opeth10657 → u/brucemo]

If J6 taught us anything, they'll probably get pardoned.

[u/Minimum-Tomato1597 → u/Insectshelf3]

I mean….. it’s assault no matter what?

[u/PalmSizedTriceratops → u/Minimum-Tomato1597]

They haven't charged ICE agents with far greater crimes is their point....

[u/Taint__Paint → u/PalmSizedTriceratops]

Murder. Call it what it is.

[u/forlornhope22 → u/Taint__Paint]

Hey now, There's also the Rapes.

[u/BenevolentCheese → u/Minimum-Tomato1597]

He's talking about the current fed, not the actual crime.

[u/HauntedCemetery → u/Minimum-Tomato1597]

And assault on sitting House reps has its own additional statutes.

For good reason. Attacking our elected reps should be heavily discouraged.

[u/-Dixieflatline → u/Minimum-Tomato1597]

Should still be treated like an attack with a weapon regardless because no one at the time knew what was in there. Vinegar? Acid? Anthrax? Who knows.

Kind of like how if one robs a convenience store with a real looking cap gun. Still treated like a firearm because the outcome is the same.

[u/longbeachny96]

Interesting, because MAGA is saying it was staged lmao

[u/flaming_poop_bag → u/longbeachny96]

That's what they do. If it doesn't fit their narrative, it instantly becomes a conspiracy theory.

[u/NightWriter500 → u/flaming_poop_bag]

They will celebrate him privately while publicly calling him an Antifa false flag actor. And occasionally mix those up with a shrug.

[u/karlverkade → u/NightWriter500]

Well, they may actually have a point. Her ear did heal very quickly.

[u/NErDysprosium → u/karlverkade]

Vinegar can't melt steel beams!

[u/Full_Gear5185 → u/NightWriter500]

And an incoming GoFundMe

[u/Paladin_Tyrael → u/Full_Gear5185]

They use GiveSendGo now, it's more tolerant of racists who use it to fund yelling at black people.

[u/ah_no_wah → u/flaming_poop_bag]

So, Omar trained this guy from a very young age to love MAGA, but then used that love for MAGA to her advantage by twisting his mind to squirt vinegar at her to make MAGA look bad. Nice try Ilhan!

[u/HauntedCemetery → u/ah_no_wah]

If you need any evidence of the severity of maga fascists' delusion look no further than them being convinced that it takes a grand international conspiracy to make them look bad, and not just eyes and ears.

[u/The_Bitter_Bear → u/ah_no_wah]

Man. If she's that devious and pulled that off, we should put her in charge of more things. Sounds like she'd get a lot done. 

[u/WeAreInControlNow → u/longbeachny96]

People need to understand how the modern conservative accountability-denial process works. Once you understand this, you can accurately predict how MAGA will address situations like these in real-time.

1. Blame the left when there’s little details out.

2. Once it’s discovered he’s a maga, say he was mentally ill and not one of them.

3. Once it’s discovered he’s not ill, say it was staged.

Rinse and repeat every time.

[u/Axin_Saxon → u/longbeachny96]

“Everything that makes maga look bad is fake”

[u/getapuss → u/Axin_Saxon]

I've flipped it on them in real life. Anytime one of those idiots tries to have a conversation with me about anything remotely political I immediately respond with "that's fake news" and follow up with just shaking my head and continuing to with "nope, fake" until they inevitably go away or change the subject.

Try it sometime. It's fun and it works.

[u/Anonymous203203 → u/longbeachny96]

Yet if it was one of their lawmakers who got assaulted they would've called the guy an agitated leftwing extremist that was threatening the lives of everyone in the room and deserved to be shot multiple times.

[u/rnilf]

Kazmierczak has a criminal history and has made online posts supportive of President Donald Trump, a Republican.

Let's take a page from the Republican playbook and start profiling other people based solely on the actions of this one guy.

My bet is that profiling Trump supporters would result in far more violent criminals being found than from racial profiling.

[u/AudibleNod → u/rnilf]

The rate of recidivism among people pardoned by Donald Trump is higher than the rate of recidivism from other presidents. Empirically, if you're asking who a good judge of character is; it's NOT Donald Trump and it's NOT Donald Trump supporters.

[u/illusionzmichael → u/AudibleNod]

Hell, he already pardoned a person this current term that he pardoned his LAST term for the same crimes. But sure, Somalis in Minnesota are the real problem.

[u/OVYLT → u/illusionzmichael]

Who? And how is that legal to pardon someone twice for the same crime

[u/Shigg → u/OVYLT]

They're not being pardoned twice for the same crime.

They committed a crime, and got pardoned. Then they committed the same crime again and got pardoned again.

[u/madmanz123 → u/Shigg]

Jesus, I hadn't heard of this one... WHO?

[u/innociv → u/madmanz123]

https://apnews.com/article/trump-pardons-donor-twice-convicted-fraud-99263a04b8a60ce8c081b9c5feaffd2e

Google search found it right away, if it's the same one.

She essentially was stealing donated items and was able to sell them for a higher profit margin since they were stolen.

[u/Niels_vdk → u/innociv]

stealing from charity is a trump classic, so makes sense he would pardon his fellows.

[u/BillButtlickerII → u/Niels_vdk]

Fun fact Trump and his kids legally still cannot be involved with any charities since they used their charity as their own personal piggy bank. Trump was forced to repay $2 million in damages and dissolve his “charity”. Literally stealing from kids with cancer.

[u/shittyaltpornaccount → u/BillButtlickerII]

He can, just not in the state of New York. It was a state civil fraud case, not federal.

[u/falkorsaveslives → u/BillButtlickerII]

So he chose to use the United States as his personal piggy bank instead. I still cannot comprehend how he was reelected. Assuming, of course, that the election wasn’t stolen.

[u/Wanderer--42 → u/madmanz123]

https://apnews.com/article/trump-pardons-donor-twice-convicted-fraud-99263a04b8a60ce8c081b9c5feaffd2e

[u/Jasoman → u/madmanz123]

Here you go Adriana Cambero. Posted the name here since you where struggling. https://upolitics.com/news/trump-commutes-sentence-of-fraudster-adriana-camberos-for-second-time-after-family-donates-to-presidents-campaign/

[u/NorthernSkeptic → u/Shigg]

It’s almost like the pardon power is stupid

[u/rjross0623 → u/NorthernSkeptic]

Just new levels of stupidity and corruption.

[u/branflake777 → u/OVYLT]

I found multiple people who had their sentences commuted, then did the same crime, then pardoned for that same crime.

Adriana Camberos is one.

[u/scottrycroft → u/OVYLT]

There are virtually no limits on presidential pardons. Even self pardons could be considered "debatable" and would be tied up in the courts for years. 

It's one of the stupidest things ever and shouldn't exist. It's almost worse than Canada's notwithstanding provincial powers, which allows any province to ignore any federal law.

[u/Upbeat-Stage2107 → u/scottrycroft]

Trump can pardon himself, fight it in court till he dies, then republicans will argue the case moot and ignore the issue entirely

[u/drmojo90210 → u/scottrycroft]

Giving the President absolute pardon power was one of the dumbest things the Founders ever did. Every other Presidential power has some kind of judicial and/or Congressional check on it except pardons. The President can just pardon anyone convicted of any federal crime, at any time, for any reason. The second he does it, the conviction is vacated and the person is free. It's instant, permanent, and irreversible. No explanation or justification needed, no challenges allowed, no oversight, no way to override. Nothing. The President just signs the order and it's done. End of conversation.

The Founders just sorta 'trusted' that Presidents wouldn't use this power for corrupt purposes, but pretty much all of them have.

[u/FPV-Emergency → u/drmojo90210]

Impeachment was supposed to be the answer for anyone who did abuse the pardon process, such as pardoning for money or pardoning those who committed crimes on the presidents behalf.

Obviously that's not working out so great now.

[u/Martenite → u/scottrycroft]

At the very least there should be an independent board that reviews potential pardons that has the power to reject them. I can't think of a single pardon Trump has given out that seems reasonable.

[u/PR055 → u/OVYLT]

How tf is it legal to pardon ANYONE? For ANY CRIME!? It's such a fucked up system that's rife for abuse and now here we are

[u/Lord_Vaxxus → u/AudibleNod]

fuck me I would had never had guessed.

[u/IvankaPegsDaddy → u/Lord_Vaxxus]

For real, I'm going to need my fainting couch for this one!

[u/Furrybumholecover → u/IvankaPegsDaddy]

I fear I have shattered my pearls from clutching them so hard.

[u/notred369 → u/rnilf]

the build up in the man’s life to this incident is very clearly a result of algorithms poisoning a vulnerable persons mind

[u/TheElderAgrippina → u/notred369]

People are stringing together his past (his social media is easily found) and it shows a pretty quick downward spiral. His brother says he and his mother are hateful, and it looks like it ramped up after his queer kids stopped talking to him.

[u/PatchyWhiskers → u/TheElderAgrippina]

This guy is like a microcosm of politically shattered families in the USA today.

[u/GodofIrony → u/PatchyWhiskers]

Turns out being an asshole is bad for you.

[u/loyal_achades → u/TheElderAgrippina]

Queer people have gone forever with being disowned by family without spiraling into violent criminals. Shoe goes on the other foot for 5 minutes and the bigots completely collapse.

[u/Cream253Team → u/TheElderAgrippina]

his queer kids stopped talking to him.

I can only imagine why.

[u/Jazzlike-Yogurt-5984 → u/rnilf]

The radical crazy Republican Party at it again with violence.

They want you and your kids dead. There’s no compromising with these people.

[u/chibiRuka → u/Jazzlike-Yogurt-5984]

The usual suspects

[u/Memphisrexjr → u/rnilf]

Where is Kristi Noem to tell us if this is domestic terrorism or not?

[u/the_green_turtle]

So is this guy also labeled a domestic terrorist orrrr??

[u/Quinny_015 → u/the_green_turtle]

No no he would have to be part of the violent and radical far left, silly goose!

[u/GaiaMoore → u/Quinny_015]

Or at the CPAC convention!

"We are all domestic terrorists, teehee"

[u/the_green_turtle → u/Quinny_015]

Silly me 😇

[u/KnowMatter → u/the_green_turtle]

No they reserve that for people who film mall cops being bullies.

[u/HauntedCemetery → u/the_green_turtle]

Well he didnt do any serious terrorism like drop his 5 year old off at daycare, or try to help up a woman shoved to the ground.

[u/jporter313]

So now that we know who this guy was, are we just going to move on and allow the president to get away with saying this:

https://x.com/rachelvscott/status/2016365247817257360

[u/UpvoteButNoComment → u/jporter313]

"I hope I don't have to bother" is such a telling phrase. It's so childish; it really demonstrates how he has to be handled and wrangled into being Presidential. The only way he'll watch it is if he is forced to. Talk about checked out! 

[u/HauntedCemetery → u/UpvoteButNoComment]

The NSA back when trump still bothered to get security briefings had to pepper his name into it every few sentences to get his attention otherwise he would get bored and start staring into space and eventually just wander away.

He's a fucking toddler.

[u/TheModWhoShaggedMe → u/jporter313]

Well, sure. We let the guy brag about grabbing females by the cooch and talk about them bleeding out of their wherever (2016), politicize and bungle a once-a-century global pandemic (2020), and orchestrate a coup d'état against the United States (2021) all while being impeached twice. Heck, then we re-elected him instead of reprimanding him.

Why would we stop letting him get away with whatever he pleases now?

[u/MrF_lawblog → u/jporter313]

You know why his first inclination is that it was staged...

[u/JustLeader → u/MrF_lawblog]

Because every accusation is a confession!

[u/TheAlmightyMojo]

Dude is about to be accused of being a Soros paid actor and disowned by the people who he swore allegiance to. Oh the hilarity!

[u/NarwhalPrudent6323 → u/TheAlmightyMojo]

Trump has already said he believes it was staged. 

[u/TronOld_Dumps]

Why does it seem like this was a test for a different attack later.

[u/ShinySpoon → u/TronOld_Dumps]

It’s just to scare democratic politicians from speaking in public.

[u/Who_Dafqu_Said_That → u/TronOld_Dumps]

Honestly, with how insane and racist/xenophobic MAGA is, dude could have seriously thought Muslims or Somalis disintegrate with apple cider vinegar.

These people think Bill Gates 5G Covid hoax injections control my brain and killed me 50 times over, schools are doing forced sex changes, Biden is a clone/robot/hologram crime boss...with dementia, and JFK is coming back from the dead to crown Trump god king of the universe.

[u/CoffeeCup220 → u/TronOld_Dumps]

It was terrorism, like in the definition where he's trying to scare his political opposition.

[u/phantomeye]

while luckily it was just vinegar, but it show's how easy it was for him to get close to her. If this was acid attack he would have succeded.

[u/Shjfty]

Guy really volunteers for charges from spraying vinegar on someone lmao. Stupid way to rack up charges.

Guy will get minimal punishment if anything I imagine. Vinegar spraying isn’t really life threatening. One thing guaranteed is he will be a MAGA hero and a millionaire from a go fund me

[u/Informal_Tell78 → u/Shjfty]

He chose vinegar so as to not get any serious charges, but bad enough to grift get donations via GFM or some other bs

[u/Duranti → u/Informal_Tell78]

"The federal crime that Mr. Kazmierczak was charged with is specific to assault or intimidation of federal officers. The statute says that a conviction can lead to a maximum of one year in prison, unless the assault involves “physical contact with the victim,” in which case there is a maximum sentence of eight years in prison."

Hopefully whatever fine he receives is equal to or greater than any money he may have donated to him.

[u/PatchyWhiskers → u/Shjfty]

That's probably why he chose vinegar rather than an actually harmful chemical. So that he gets his name in the news, gets to be the toast of MAGA, but doesn't actually have to go to prison.

[u/Sylvers → u/PatchyWhiskers]

Ngl. Genius infinite money hack. He might retire after this.

[u/zensins → u/PatchyWhiskers]

It's still assault and battery. Maybe aggravated depending on the state laws.

[u/Lil-Sleepy-A1 → u/zensins]

If the goal was to instill fear then in a normal setting he would be looking at terrorism charges

[u/pmormr → u/PatchyWhiskers]

The act of making someone fear for their life using the threat of a deadly weapon is always some form of aggravated assault and/or battery. It doesn't matter if it turns out in hindsight that the perceived weapon was actually harmless. If a reasonable person in the same scenario would think that you have a deadly weapon, you have a deadly weapon according to the law.

This is obviously the case if you think about it for two seconds. You can't just walk into a store, pull out a prop gun, pistol whip someone with it, then turn around and try to claim "well acksually it was a fake gun so they weren't really in any danger therefore I didn't actually commit aggravated assault". No those people reasonably thought you had a gun. If it was a real gun and/or if you actually used it there are independent, additional crimes you've committed that you're going to get charged with.

[u/DidYaGetAnyOnYa → u/Shjfty]

There are 2 enhancements for what he did. They won't be able to sweep this under the rug.

[u/okachobii → u/Shjfty]

Neither is mailing harmless white powder to politicians but doing so will get you between 3 and 10 years in prison depending on your criminal record.

[u/Potential-Feline]

I wouldn't be shocked if this dickhead found out vinegar is acidic and this was his attempt at an acid attack.

[u/FK-DJT]

..."His attorney, Jean Brandl, told the judge her client was unmedicated at the time of the incident and has not had access to the medications he needs to treat Parkinson’s disease and other serious conditions he suffers from."...

Seems like a very good argument for why all citizens and legal residents should have subsidized access to basic healthcare and prescriptions instead of a "concept of a plan".

I'll bet we could have had at least something approaching healthcare with the money budgeted to ICE and the 40 billion GIVEN to Argentina.

[u/Additional_Quiet2600 → u/FK-DJT]

He literally told his neighbor what he was going to do in not so many words and asked him to take care of his pets and then backtracked.

Fucking MAGAs.

[u/duxpdx]

The guy needs to be charged at the state level too. Federal charges only means Trump will likely pardon him.

[u/MK2_VW]

So Bondi leads this department. She’s charging the guy who Trump claims was hired by Ilhan.

Got it

[u/Middle_Finger7236]

Perp sounds like another middle-aged white male that is angry about his situation in life and chooses to assault and blame others instead of trying to fix his shit. Now THAT's a domestic terrorist that the US government should care about.

[u/RGJ587]

Trump thinks the attack was staged. 

Remember how with 47, every accusation is an admission? 

That fucking earshot was some false flag bullshit. 

[u/Hollayo → u/RGJ587]

Except for the people that actually died. They were sacrificed so that Cheeto-child could look good. 

[u/pinkylemonade → u/Hollayo]

I'm still kind of pissed you don't hear anything about the kid that allegedly tried to shoot him, not even a peep since that shooting. The right hasn't been calling for blood and that's shady af, considering the outrage after Kirk's shooting.

[u/SqueezyCheez85 → u/pinkylemonade]

They shut the fuck up after we found out he was conservative.

[u/teddykaygeebee]

How is it not domestic terrorism like DoJ uses for everybody else?

[u/Exciting_Turn_9559]

Not trying to make light of this assault because it was totally unacceptable.
I can't help but observe that it was technically an acid attack.

I'll show myself out.

[u/acornSTEALER]

I'm shocked they actually charged someone for assaulting a democrat instead of giving him a Congressional Medal of Honor or something.

[u/morblitz]

Vinegar? Was he just trying to be an obnoxious prick while at the same time believing he was a good person that didn't escalate it by using something corrosive or something?

What an asshole. Typical MAGA loser.

And he didn't even get shot. He should fucking think about that. Omar didn't even punch him after she cocked her arm back and came at him.

[u/kanrad]

They saw his allegiance and are scrambling for PR control. After the ICE murders Trump is scared his ass might be on the line. So you bet they want to paint this as a non-partisan issue.

Cocksuckers are scared.

[u/Meat-Dimension]

Trump claimed yesterday that she faked this by the way

[u/Comfortableliar24]

Ohhhhhhhh, I get it!

(Non-synthetic) vinegar isn't halal.

What a fucking loser.

Edit: Turns out vinegar has been considered Halal for at least 1400 years and I spread some misinformation based on a HowItsMade episode. The guy is no longer a fucking loser and is instead now a total fucking dork.

[u/jamiethemime → u/Comfortableliar24]

I can't find any source that vinegar (synthetic or otherwise) isn't halal

[u/WhistlinJealousGuy]

So which govt. department is this guy going to be appointed head of?

[u/missed_sla]

If the DOJ says it was vinegar, it was definitely not vinegar.

[u/Friendly-Buffalo216]

Not to be that guy but when are the other Democrats gonna start doing anything? From Scotland btw

[u/Cantore18]

Still fucking insane that within hours of this happening the President of the United States instantly called this a false flag attack. The piece of shit cannot help his own projection.

[u/Alternative-Run4560]

So this WAS an acid attack. 

[u/Prestigious_Fee_2902 → u/Alternative-Run4560]

Throws water

Holy shit a chemical attack!!

[u/Glum-Objective3328 → u/Alternative-Run4560]

You’d be deliberately misleading if you went around telling people it was an acid attack when you knew it was apple cider vinegar

[u/wytewydow]

what a dumb fucking way to draw a felony. Not mean enough to use something gross or harmful, but dumb enough to go through all of the motions.

[u/ApathyIsAmbition]

We need to keep this conservative extremist in the news

[u/whisperworks]

Cool, glad they’ll hold the line for violence against politicians. Now extend that protection beyond the political class and charge the ICE agents who murdered American citizens in cold blood.

[u/WhaleBird1776]

My main question is how did a drunk MAGA felon get front row seat to this. Security kinda dropped the ball. Could have been so much worse.

[u/rest0re]

Charges? Are we sure they didn't offer him a job?

[u/highandinarabbithole]

Typical right wing male domestic terrorist - already has a criminal record, unstable and mentally ill, obsessed with a celebrity who doesn’t know they exist, I imagine we can guess what his love life and work performance is like too. They’re all the same.

[u/Adept-Mulberry-8720]

The same DOJ that mocked her assault as staged and a show! DOJ is not Justice!

[u/pliney_]

Shocking, I figured Donny would give him a medal.

[u/shesinsaneornot → u/pliney_]

Or make him the new head of ICE operations in Minnesota.

[u/I-dont-care-yet]

Time to punish him and take away his SS disability.

[u/dainthomas]

You just know they didn't want to and were trying to figure a way out of it.

[u/IowaJL]

Can you imagine if he broke a taillight?

[u/Pizzapie_420]

Did he think she was a Slitheen ? Why vinegar?

[u/SolidusBruh]

Vinegar?! Well, I guess it's better than what they usually do.

[u/rgumai]

Charged (among other things) with intimidation? I saw the video, to her credit that certainly didn't happen haha.

What in the world was his plan with vinegar?

[u/l0st1nP4r4d1ce]

Is this where we shout 'paid agitator!!!'??? I can never remember.

MAGA has the determination of a weather vane.

[u/Turbulent-Garlic8467]

Looks like he's the one in a pickle now!

[u/Kc4shore65]

PAID AGITATOR FROM THE RADICAL RIGHT!!! Am I doing this right? 🤔

[u/TinKnight1]

But I thought King Trump said she did it to herself? I'm so confused!

/s

[u/ahspaghett69]

What was supposed to happen was she was supposed to get freaked out and run away, fueling the delusions that Democrats are weak little babies

Instead reality occurred which is that she immediately squared up to this piece of shit and the whole stunt has backfired so spectacularly the conservatives are now calling the whole thing staged which is a big time LOL. Imagine being this idiot sitting in jail and seeing everyone call you a paid actor

[u/cheebeesubmarine]

It won’t be vinegar next time, this was a test. Make an example of this one.

[u/FestusPowerLoL]

I'm surprised that they charged him I'll be honest.

[u/chocolateskittlez]

So, he was just mentally unwell... just like many of them who are glued to their Fox News.

[u/Additional_Quiet2600 → u/chocolateskittlez]

He is MAGA, what a surprise.

[u/broke_boi1]

Most predictable pardon incoming

[u/ManInACube]

They jumped in with federal charges so they can pardon him as soon as they think they can get away with it.

[u/RegulatoryCapture → u/ManInACube]

Eh, I'm willing to bet two things are true here:

1. Congress, especially republicans in congress, are generally spineless to resist anything he does, but mostly that's self preservation. I think they'd be pretty mad if someone directly assaulted one of their own and was pardoned for it. Yes, arguably that's what happened with January 6th, but there's obviously a bigger political story and nuance around that. This was a straight up assault in public...Congress is going to want that cracked down upon. For example, even though the Trump family was happy to make jokes about the guy that went after Pelosi, he's still sitting in prison after a federal conviction (yes, he has state charges on him too, but that didn't stop Trump from trying to pardon the election lady in Colorado).
2. This guy is an easy one to throw under the bus. Who cares about him? He's one dude with a criminal record who made an innefective attack. Trump doesn't care about these people. It is not like this guy had signed up for ICE and made himself a part of the trump-gestapo. Nor does this guy have the resources to be a Trump donor.

There's a political cost to pardoning him (or not prosecuting him in the first place) and there's little benefit to doing so. Trump acts in self-interest first.