Republicans are really drawing the best people these days. For example, take Daniella Stella, the Trump-loving Minnesota woman who is trying to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. She has fully embraced the ridiculously absurd Qanon conspiracy theories (read more about that below.)
But, it turns out the congressional hopeful also has a criminal history. The Guardian has the goods:
Stella is accused of stealing 279 items valued at $2,327.97 from a Target store in Edina, to the south-west of Minneapolis, on 8 January this year. She was arrested for the alleged theft after security staff called the police.
A criminal complaint filed to Hennepin county district court alleged Stella was seen leaving the store without paying for most of her haul, after “scanning only a few other items” that were valued at about $50.
$2,327.97 from a Target? That’s a lot of stolen stuff. It’s hard to imagine executives or employees of Minneapolis-based Target Stores supporting her election campaign.
The Target theft wasn’t her first time getting busted for shoplifting.
Officers in nearby Bloomington then arrested Stella on 28 April after she was allegedly seen by security staff at a Cub Foods grocery store stealing a bottle of tick spray for cats, and placing other items “under her purse so that they could not be seen”.
The shoplifting incident isn’t the only time she’s been arrested, either.
Court records say that in 2009, Stella pleaded guilty to driving while impaired from alcohol and fleeing a police officer. The latter charge was prosecuted as a felony but later classified as a gross misdemeanour as part of Stella’s plea.
Stella told The Guardian she suffered from anxiety. Clearly she has some issues going on and while I do appreciate good snark, I sincerely hope she gets the help she seems to be in need of for the long term.
In the meantime, it’s becoming clear how she could be sucked into the wacky Qanon conspiracy theories.
What is Qanon? More from Jared Holt at Right Wing Watch:
QAnon is a Trump-era phenomena centered on a conspiracy theory that alleges that Trump administration insiders have been dropping clues, in the form of cryptic riddles posted on anonymous imageboards, about a supposed secret plan to take down the “deep state” and a worldwide network of satanic pedophiles said to include A-list Hollywood figures and top-level Democrats. Believers, who call themselves “anons,” dedicate themselves to decoding the posts. Early on, QAnon adherents claimed that Trump was secretly working with then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller to expose the Satanists.
People who believe in QAnon are increasingly frequent fixtures at Trump rallies. At a campaign rally in North Carolina last week, President Donald Trump praised a baby wearing a onesie emblazoned on the back with the “Q” emblem sometimes worn by adherents to the theory.