A man attacked United States Representative Ilhan Omar (Democrat) while she was speaking during a town hall meeting in Minneapolis, according to local police.

According to an initial police statement, the man used a syringe to spray an unknown liquid at Omar.

The man was immediately arrested and booked into Hennepin County Jail for 3rd degree assault, the statement added.

A livestream of the event shows the man being tackled and taken away by security. Omar appears unharmed and continues speaking.

“We will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us,” she says.

Omar’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump spoke derisively of Omar at an event in Iowa.

“She comes from a country that’s a disaster. Probably it’s considered, I think, the worst - it’s not even a country, okay? It barely has a government,” he said, referring to Somalia.