A small business owner was reportedly been threatened after her name was revealed by hackers in a data leak of donors to the Canadian “Freedom Convoy.”
Over 92,000 donor names were leaked from GiveSendGo following a massive hack. Credit card information was also compromised.
The Stella Luna Gelato Café in Ottawa was forced to close on Tuesday after its owner — Tammy Guiliani — and her staff were threatened with violence for her support of the convoy.
Guiliani donated a mere $250 to a fundraiser dedicated to the “Freedom Convoy,” where truckers have protested mandates of the COVID-19 vaccine. She said she and employees received threats after she was doxxed on Twitter.
“We got a call from the team saying, ‘We’re getting phone calls here,'” Giuliani told Ottawa Citizen. “I said, ‘What’s going on?’ and they said, ‘They’re threatening to throw bricks through our window. They’re threatening to come and get us.’ We said, ‘Lock the door and we’ll find out what’s going on.'”
She was ruthlessly attacked on Twitter after her donation was made public and was targeted by low follower accounts.
Giuliani said she initially donated $100 but asked for a refund when the fund was frozen.
“Now I’m giving you $250 and taking food down to the truckers every day. Thank you for continuing to fight for Canadians across this country,” she wrote at the time.
Giuliani has backed off her support as the protest has become a huge flashpoint of controversy.
“When a group of people first decided they were going to travel across the country to spread this message of solidarity, it seemed like a beacon of hope for small businesses like us,” she said. “It’s no surprise that small businesses have been on the edge. Families are at risk of losing their livelihood. I’m a sucker for a grassroots cause.”
“Never in our wildest dreams did we anticipate what has transpired over the past couple of weeks,” she said. “None of us anticipated what it turned into and we certainly don’t condone it.”
Giuliani said she regretted the donation, but that her donation was no excuse for the threats she and her staff received.
“In retrospect it was bad judgment, but does that mean that people have a right to threaten our staff? Does it mean people have the right to threaten to throw bricks though our window and to threaten my family? We made a mistake. Who could have anticipated it?”
She concluded by saying that she has made donations to various other charitable causes, including local animal shelters and soccer teams. “We rarely say no,” she concluded.
