Ilhan Omar lauded for defending doxxed Freedom Convoy donor 'harassed' by reporter
Ilhan Omar raised eyebrows on Wednesday, February 16, after she appeared to defend a shop owner who made a donation to the Freedom Convoy in Canada, saying journalists shouldn't be putting the lives of those who made "insignificant" donations in jeopardy.
The Minnesota Democratic Rep retweeted a piece shared by an editor at the Ottawa Citizen/Sun about the Stella Luna Gelato Cafe in Ottawa, which was forced to shutter down Tuesday, February 15, after receiving continued threats. Tammy Giuliani, the owner of the establishment, was featured on the list of GiveSendGo donors to the Freedom Convoy which became public after hacking on Sunday, February 12. The hackers released data including names, email addresses, et cetera of the donors, prompting Omar to say that reporting on them only made them subject to harassment.
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“I fail to see why any journalist felt the need to report on a shop owner making such an insignificant donation rather than to get them harassed,” Omar tweeted on Wednesday, February 16. “It’s unconscionable and journalists need to do better,” she added.
I fail to see why any journalist felt the need to report on a shop owner making such a insignificant donation rather than to get them harassed. It’s unconscionable and journalists need to do better. https://t.co/oF7WIoS1jp
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 16, 2022
According to the Daily Caller, the journalist, who posted the article that Omar shared, faced a slew of criticism after tweeting out the story, forcing her to delete the post. Meanwhile, the US representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district was lauded on social media, even by some of her critics.
"Didn’t have this one on my bingo card — Ilhan Omar agreeing with Republicans like Donald Trump Jr. that journalists shouldn’t dig into small donors to the Freedom Convoy truckers," reporter Emily Brooks tweeted.
"Holy shit I agree with Ilhan Omar on something," one Twitter user wrote.
"My God it’s the end of the world!" another added.
"Honestly, big respect point for Ilhan for putting this out there despite the rest of the SQUAD silence. Will she be ousted Mean Girls-style? v interesting!" a comment read.
"It's nice to agree with her for once," someone else offered.
"Ilhan Omar is right about journalists harassing small money donors supporting the #FreedomConvoy. That is a sentence I never thought I would write," another chimed in.
Didn’t have this one on my bingo card — Ilhan Omar agreeing with Republicans like Donald Trump Jr. that journalists shouldn’t dig into small donors to the Freedom Convoy truckers https://t.co/YpvrPmFnaS
— Emily Brooks (@emilybrooksnews) February 17, 2022
Honestly, big respect point for Ilhan for putting this out there despite the rest of the SQUAD silence.
— Kian 💜🇮🇪 (@Luxiferi) February 17, 2022
Will she be ousted Mean Girls style? v interesting! pic.twitter.com/M5xqi0POZ5
Ilhan Omar is right about journalists harassing small money donors supporting the #FreedomConvoy. That is a sentence I never thought I would write.
— Jeff H (@politicswarblog on Gab and Parler) (@politicswarblog) February 17, 2022
Others, however, were skeptical of Omar's motives.
"She will walk this back, she doesn't want to be seen as sympathetic to the right," one predicted.
"We all agree with her but she is just taking an easy win. She won’t say this when it matters in her country," another alleged.
"Umm... Mid-term elections... Of course, she will come out and show support," a Twitter user offered.
"She has vomited drivel for too many years and left too much pain and misery in her wake to be impressed with ANYTHING she has to say now," someone else added.
"She is merely trying to avoid major criticism since the doxxers are following her lead. That said, it's clear that she sees the danger," another opined.
She will walk this back, she doesnt want to be seen as sympathetic to the right
— Matthew 🇺🇸 (@mjhilboldt) February 17, 2022
We all agree with her but she is just taking an easy win. She won’t say this when it matters in her country.
— OberWuzHere (@Oberetta_ATFPL) February 17, 2022
Umm... Mid term elections... Of course she will come out and show support. 🙄
— Ronin Tico 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸✝️✝️✝️🎆🎆 (@LeoMancini1977) February 17, 2022
She has vomited drivel for too many years and left too much pain and misery in her wake to be impressed with ANYTHING she has to say now
— RPS57 (@rps57) February 17, 2022
She is merely trying to avoid major criticism since the doxxers are following her lead. That said, it's clear that she sees the danger.
— Douglas Sweetman (@Stockzorg) February 17, 2022
MEAWW previously reported how President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were slammed after reports emerged that the US government was pressuring Canada to use its federal powers to put an end to Freedom Convoy demonstrations held by truckers against Covid-19 restrictions.
Blockades at various ports of entry disrupted logistics between the two countries and threatened to shut down production at US auto plants. Biden reportedly urged Trudeau in a series of bilateral meetings to push harder against the truckers. Meanwhile, an Ontario court blocked protesters from accessing online donations totaling more than $8 million via the fundraising platform GiveSendGo. Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared in a statement that the order "binds any and all parties with possession or control over these donations."