Danielle Stella
Danielle Stella | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Freeport, Illinois |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Website | Campaign website |
Danielle Stella is an educator and Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives seat of Minnesota's 5th congressional district. If successful, Stella would join the 117th United States Congress. She is known for being one of the first political candidates to give credence to the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Background[edit]
Stella was born and raised in Freeport, Illinois, but moved to Minnesota when she was roughly 12.[1] Her career outside of politics consists of teaching special needs children,[2] especially those on the autism spectrum.[3][4] She did not initially have political aspirations, but became increasingly concerned by the political leadership of Minnesota, specifically that of Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar.[4]
2020 campaign[edit]
Stella filed for candidacy to represent Minnesota's 5th congressional district on June 19, 2019.[5]
Stella has been strongly critical of her rival Ilhan Omar. Stella has publicly stated the refuted suggestion that Omar married her brother in order to immigrate to the United States from Somalia.[6]
Political positions[edit]
Abortion[edit]
Stella is pro-life, and believes that life begins at conception.[1] She states that her experience working with children of special needs has influenced her position. On her campaign website, Stella criticizes Democrats for referring to abortion as "healthcare" and states that "choice starts in the bedroom... with the responsibility of both individuals involved." She also decries that Live Action, a pro-life organization, was labeled by Pinterest as "white supremacist".[3]
Freedom of speech[edit]
Stella spoke at the event called #DemandFreeSpeech, which took place in Washington DC.[7] She opines, "our First Amendment Rights are under fire. Conservative voices are openly being suppressed by big tech and social media giants; to include, but not limited to, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and Google. This suppression is akin to civil information warfare."[3]
Immigration[edit]
Stella is concerned about illegal immigration, and is supportive of Trump's proposed border wall.[1]
Military and veterans[edit]
On her website, Stella says she has done volunteer work to help veterans, and has directly addressed military and veterans by saying, "I am here for you. I will never forget." She also accuses her opponent Omar of putting the needs of illegal immigrants before that of veterans.[3]
Trump[edit]
Stella is a consistent supporter of President Donald Trump, whom she referred to as being a "fantastic" president.[8]
QAnon[edit]
Stella has voiced support for the QAnon conspiracy theories. The QAnon school of thought alleges that the Trump administration is under attack by a secretive deep state, allied with Democrats and liberal celebrities who are engaged in an international child sex-trafficking ring.[9] On July 22, 2019, she posted a picture of herself wearing a necklace with a "Q" pendant, as a potential allusion to QAnon.[10] She had also used the hashtag "#WWG1WGA" which is popular among QAnon adherents.[11] A former staffer for Stella's campaign claims that Stella's support of Q is feigned, in an attempt to appeal to conspiracy theorists and Trump supporters.[6]
Stella is one of two present House candidates who have voiced support for QAnon, the other being Matthew Lusk, a Republican who is running for representation of Florida's 5th congressional district.[6]
Personal[edit]
She says she has post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a violent assault in 2008.[2] Similarly, while expressing her Anti-Abortion views in an interview, Stella stated that she was sexually assaulted in the past, which resulted in a pregnancy that she chose to keep.[1]
Legal troubles[edit]
DWI[edit]
In 2009, Stella pleaded guilty to a DWI and evading a police officer; it was prosecuted as a felony, but was re-listed as a gross misdemeanor as per her guilty plea.[2]
Shoplifting[edit]
Danielle Stella was arrested twice in 2019 due to incidents involving shoplifting. She is charged with a felony for, in January 2019, having allegedly removed 279 items valued at $2,327.97 from a Target store located in Edina, Minnesota, while scanning only about $50 worth of items.[12] She also is facing a contempt of court charge for not showing up to a court proceeding related to the matter.[2] As well, she is facing a misdemeanor from three months afterward, related to allegedly stealing $40 of cat food and other supplies from Cub Foods in Bloomington, Minnesota. If found guilty, she faces as much as five years in prison and $10,000 worth of fines.[13]
She claims innocence, stating, "If I was guilty of crimes, I would never run for public office, putting myself in the public eye under a microscope to be attacked by all political sides." She also went to criticize The Guardian author who broke the story, Jon Swaine, with multiple direct statements to him on Twitter, one of which said, "What you wrote was garbage, unethical, outright lies. You repeatedly called, texted with threats about posting a smear article, which you then proceeded to do."[14]
When she was arrested for shoplifting, she was booked with a different last name. The Guardian did not print the name due to Stella expressing concern for her safety if it was published.[2]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Blair, Teresa (June 5, 2019). "Mill City Citizen Media was live — with Minnesota Senate District 40 Republicans and Danielle Stella at Minnesota's 5th Congressional District". Facebook. Mill City Citizen Media. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Swaine, Jon (July 25, 2019). "Pro-Trump Republican aiming to unseat Ilhan Omar charged with felony theft". The Guardian. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Stella, Danielle. "Meet Danielle". stella2020.com. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nace, Tom (June 24, 2019). "Republican Rising Star Danielle Stella Is Taking On Ilhan Omar In 2020". News-Metropolis.com. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ↑ "STELLA, DANIELLE: About This Candidate". Federal Election Commission. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Sommer, Will (July 23, 2019). "Rep. Ilhan Omar's Republican Challenger Appears to be a QAnon Conspiracy Theorist". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ↑ Christopher, Tommy (July 26, 2019). "Watch Republican Congressional Opponent Attack Rep. Ilhan Omar in Bonkers Rant: "She Is Ahhh-vil!'". Mediaite. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ↑ Rubin, Barry (July 27, 2019). "Meet Danielle Stella: The Trump Loving Republican Running Against Ilhan Omar". thebulwark.com. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ↑ Stanley-Becker, Isaac (August 1, 2018). "'We are Q': A deranged conspiracy cult leaps from the Internet to the crowd at Trump's 'MAGA' tour". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- ↑ Stella, Danielle (July 22, 2019). "Minnesota District 5, I'm challenging @IlhanMN for this seat, to serve the great men, women and children. I will fight for everyone's voice to be heard". Twitter. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ↑ Stieb, Matt (July 23, 2019). "A QAnon Supporter Is Challenging Ilhan Omar in 2020: Report". Nymag. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ↑ Vankin, Jonathan (July 28, 2019). "Ilhan Omar's Republican Opponent Danielle Stella Charged With Shoplifting $2,300 Worth Of Stuff From Target". Inquisitr. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- ↑ Van Oot, Torey (July 26, 2019). "Rep. Ilhan Omar's GOP challenger accused of shoplifting from Target". Star Tribune. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ↑ "Congressional candidate trying to oust Ilhan Omar charged with felony theft". The Times of Israel. July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
External links[edit]
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