A Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., in 2020 blasted Twitter on Friday after having her accounts permanently suspended this week following a tweet suggesting that the incumbent congresswoman should be hanged if found guilty of treason.
Danielle Stella wrote on her campaign Twitter account Tuesday, “If it is proven @IlhanMN passed sensitive info to Iran, she should be tried for #treason and hanged,” The Washington Examiner reported.
She later added a link to a blog post that included a drawing of a stick figure being hanged.
Stella’s tweet followed media reports that Omar’s name came up in a Canadian businessman’s deposition in a Florida court case.
The businessman, Alan Bender, claimed that Qatari officials told him Omar was the “jewel in the crown” of U.S. politicians who allegedly were Qatari assets and shared information with Iran, the Washington Examiner reported.
But several journalists have tweeted that they have found no evidence to support any of Bender’s claims about Omar, the Examiner added.
Meanwhile, a Twitter spokesperson said Stella’s accounts were closed for “repeated violations of the Twitter rules,” The Examiner reported.
“To clarify, I said, “If it is proven ____ passed sensitive info to Iran, she should be tried for #treason and hanged”. Treason is the only thing mentioned in the constitution for the death penalty, punishable by hanging or firing squad,” Stella wrote in a statement posted on Facebook on Friday. “I believe all involved should be thoroughly investigated. I did not threaten anyone.”
Stella said people were “making this into something it’s not. You are making it about race, about religion, about anything but the truth.”
“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,” she told The Examiner.
She added that she’s received death threats over her comments.
Omar tweeted in response, “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. Violent rhetoric inevitably leads to violent threats, and ultimately, violent acts.”
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.
Violent rhetoric inevitably leads to violent threats, and ultimately, violent acts. https://t.co/tn6SRFYGmp
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 29, 2019
Stella’s website describes her as a special-education-needs professional who has dedicated her life to “teaching, supporting, and caring for children with Autism.”
Stella also claism she is a strong supporter of President Trump and free speech.
