Tough-on-crime candidate accused of shoplifting

MINNEAPOLIS — A Republican challenger to freshman Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting more than $2,000 in goods from a Target earlier this year.

Danielle Stella launched her campaign against Omar in June. The 31-year-old special education teacher has made crime rates in Minneapolis part of her pitch to voters in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District.

But Stella has faced criminal charges of her own. In January, she was arrested on felony shoplifting charges after she allegedly stole 279 items valued at $2,327.97 from a Target in Edina, a Minneapolis suburb. According to a criminal complaint, Stella scanned only $50 worth of items at a self-checkout before leaving the store.

Just over three months later, Stella was reportedly arrested again. On April 28, security staff at a Cub grocery store in Bloomington called police after witnessing Stella steal $40 worth of cat food and supplies, according to British newspaper The Guardian, which first reported both arrests Thursday.

The campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Star Tribune. Stella denied the allegations in text messages sent to The Guardian.

“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 wrote.

Stella, a first-time candidate, has gained attention in conservative circles for her vocal support for President Donald Trump and a number of social media posts referencing Qanon, a far-right conspiracy theory spread through online message boards. Stella is one of five candidates who has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to challenge Omar, a first-term Democrat who won election with 78% of the vote in 2018. A series of controversies and an ongoing feud with Trump have made the freshman Democrat a national political figure and the subject of fierce ongoing attacks from the right.

But so far, none of the five candidates who filed paperwork to run against Omar have demonstrated support or fundraising prowess that would be needed to unseat a well-funded incumbent in a heavily Democratic district.

Chris Kelley, a former Minneapolis police officer and U.S. Army veteran, became the latest entrant in the race this week as member of the Independence Party. He said in a statement that Omar is “too embroiled in Twitter wars, attempting to achieve personal agenda goals and has gotten caught up in celebrity.”