Twitter permanently suspended Danielle Stella, Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) Republican challenger, on Thursday after she tweeted several times that Omar ought to be “hanged” if baseless conspiracy theories about her are true.
“The account was permanently suspended for repeated violations of the Twitter Rules,” a Twitter spokesperson told TPM.
Prior to the suspension, which was first reported by the Washington Times, Stella had posted threatening tweets about Omar while peddling bogus conspiracy theories accusing the Muslim congresswoman of acting as a double agent for governments in the Middle East.
“If it is proven @IlhanMN passed sensitive info to Iran, she should be tried for #treason and hanged,” Stella tweeted on Tuesday morning, per screenshots provided by Mediaite.
Several hours later, the Republican candidate posted an article from a far-right site with the headline “Omar Challenger Says She Should be Hanged for Treason if Reports of Qatari Recruitment True.” Stella included a digital drawing of a hanged figure in the tweet.
“My suspension for advocating for the enforcement of federal code proves Twitter will always side with and fight to protect terrorists, traitors, pedophiles and rapists,” Stella said in a statement.
“This is the natural result of a political environment where anti-Muslim dogwhistles and dehumanization are normalized by an entire political party and its media outlets,” Omar tweeted in response to her challenger’s suspension. “Violent rhetoric inevitably leads to violent threats, and ultimately, violent acts.”
Stella, who’s aiming to unseat Omar in Minnesota’s Fifth District, has a checkered history: She was arrested twice this year for allegedly shoplifting from Target, and she also hinted that she was a follower of the QAnon conspiracy theory, though her former campaign staffer told the Daily Beast she only did so “to get attention.”
