Stella Luna Gelato Café in Ottawa was forced to close its doors on Tuesday after the owner and store employees faced threats over a $250 donation to the Freedom Convoy.
After the convoy’s GiveSendGo fundraiser was hacked on Sunday and its donor list was leaked online, Tammy Giuliani said her Ottawa-based ice cream shop started receiving calls from people threatening to throw bricks through the storefront window, with further threats against her employees.
An admirer of grassroots causes, Giuliani said she initially donated $100 to the Freedom Convoy on GoFundMe before efforts by Ottawa Police and other officials had that fundraiser cancelled.
Giuliani said she has donated to a soccer team, a choir and an animal shelter in the past.
“We rarely say no,” she said.
After the Freedom Convoy’s GoFundMe was frozen on Feb 4. and the convoy organizers launched a new fundraiser on GiveSendGo, Giuliani said she more than doubled her donation.
“Now I’m giving you $250 and taking food down to the truckers every day,” Giuiliani wrote next to the new donation on Feb. 5. “Thank you for continuing to fight for Canadians across this country.”
After hackers leaked the GoFundMe donor’s list on Monday, however, Giuliani said she began to receive threats towards her family, staff and shop. She said she told her employees “not to get into any confrontation” and that their jobs were “to serve food and drinks, not get blasted by someone trying to make a point.”
Giuliani said Stella Luna Gelato Café was already struggling to get by. She added that pandemic restrictions had forced the company to take out a loan that she estimated would take seven years to pay off.
Despite the threats towards the small business, some users on Twitter decided to show their support for Giuliani, pointing out that the shop doesn’t deserve to be targeted, and encouraging people to check them out if they’re in Ottawa.
On the other hand, there have been plenty of people who have refused to show Giuliani or her employees even a modicum of sympathy for supporting the Freedom Convoy.
As of now, Stella Luna Gelato Café is closed. Giuliani said she intends to report the threats to police.
