this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2026
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Independent Minnesota US Senate candidate Marisa Simonetti, 32, has been sentenced to three months in the Hennepin County workhouse after throwing a live tarantula onto the staircase leading to her tenant's living space in Edina. She was convicted of gross misdemeanour harassment and misdemeanour domestic assault and will serve her 90-day sentence on school and work release. The court also ordered her to serve two years of probation and submit a written apology to the victim.

Simonetti's sentence comes as she campaigns for a seat in the US Senate, hoping to replace Tina Smith in the November 2026 Minnesota election. Her candidacy has drawn further attention after a video she posted of herself confronting a Girl Scout and the child's mother over selling cookies without a permit went viral, putting her own conduct under public scrutiny.

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[–] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 9 points 12 hours ago

That poor spider.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

video she posted of herself confronting a Girl Scout and the child’s mother

She thought that was a winning interaction to post of herself?

[–] darthelmet@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

You know, I think headlines like these might be getting to the point where they don't even qualify as onion-like. The Onion headlines are at least clever jokes that make sense when you think about them. This is more like someone playing "yes and" with a bunch of crazy people.

[–] bcgm3@lemmy.world 42 points 2 days ago (3 children)

She was convicted of gross misdemeanour harassment and misdemeanour domestic assault

I guess tarantulas aren't cute enough to warrant an animal cruelty charge :(

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[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 110 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Malica@lemmy.zip 43 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (6 children)

I know they're not fucking toys. They're lovely animals too.

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[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

the Hennepin County workhouse

the what now?

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (2 children)

some places never really had that veneer that slavery ended.

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

Hate to break it to you but slavery did not end in the United States, it outlaws it's use except in the case of lawful detention. Ie. The state and the feds can own people but you nor I cannot.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago

It's Minnesota, so maybe they're just choosing to be honest about it?

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

For a politician it's probably the first contact with real work.

[–] PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Facts buncha actual welfare queens

[–] baeb66@lemmy.today 53 points 2 days ago (2 children)

There's a whole video of this floating around on the internet. I usually don't go in for videos that look like the old Cops show, but that one is worth a watch.

The woman she was harassing was renting out the basement of the house through Airbnb because she was fleeing domestic violence.

Simonetti didn't even own the property. She was illegally subletting the basement. The cops showed up and Simonetti was so crazy that the cops weren't having it.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 17 points 1 day ago

a karen in its feral state.

[–] LostListener@piefed.social 30 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I’ve seen this too, these people are terrifying. Here’s the link to the full body cam. Get ready for a whole helping of crazy eyes

https://youtu.be/gRyjqsHNQOU

[–] punkibas@lemmy.zip 3 points 14 hours ago

Holy fuck! You guys were not lying, what a wild ride!

[–] Grannymcgrannypants@lemmy.nz 10 points 1 day ago

That was fucking insane, like, Jesus christ, don't let this bitch control ANYTHING!

[–] GreyEyedGhost@piefed.ca 11 points 1 day ago

I skipped on the other videos, but got sucked in by the crazy eyes comment. What a ride!

[–] pomegranatefern@sh.itjust.works 37 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Here is another article on this that I found a little bit clearer in terms of what happened. So basically her tenant asked her to fulfill a basic responsibility that landlords are supposed to handle and she had an absolute fucking meltdown? Honestly the tarantula is the tamest part of it. I hope the tarantula is okay and also that the tenant is okay, not because the tarantula was a real danger but because of every other fucking thing this woman did. Good lord.

[–] sunbytes@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago

From what i saw of her cop-slop episode it wasn't even her property. She was illegally subletting it.

Both by the terms of her rental contract and that short term lets were illegal in the city.

[–] Seleni@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Unfortunately I doubt it is. Tarantulas are surprisingly fragile; a throw like that would most likely kill one :(

[–] pipes@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is so much worse than "neighbor".

Also, how fun:

Simonetti "intercepted" groceries ordered by the individual and refused to return them until officers told her to do so

Attempted murder.. yikes

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 80 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I wonder why she's running as an independent. Couldn't be more qualified to be a Republican.

[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 58 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Although she initially launched her political career as a Republican and lost two Hennepin County Board races in 2024, the local 3rd Congressional District GOP committee withdrew its endorsement following her 2024 arrest, stating she 'does not reflect our values'.

The GOP kicked her out for bad behavior. She's too much for the addicts and pedophile warmongers.

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[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 69 points 2 days ago

The bodycam footage of the incident is wild. She’s a complete and total piece of shit.

[–] SplitTheUSInFour@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Change society. We need to stop letting these people continue their paths of destruction.

Things like this should prevent you from ever being able to hold a job again. We just need stronger laws against this kind. A new country would fix this shit so fast. I'd rather be in a place where we celebrate each other and kick out those who choose to oppress others.

In my country, this would be cause for deportation. Send the monsters to an island. Idc.

It may sound harsh, but our only currency is time and these people continue to rob us of our time. We all have to work to support a system that allows people like this to carry on with a slap on the wrist.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

The changes that I would like to see

  • Obligatory psychology tests for those wanting to enter politics. Narcissists and psychopaths should be automatically disqualified, sorry.

  • wealth caps (would have to he world wide for it yo work) where each person can only own or control up to (for example) 5 million dollars. Once you hit that net worth, your income (any income) tax bracket goes to 100%. This way nobody will have crazy amounts of mo ey of power ever again

  • re-create the UN (Uited Nations), and give it teeth this time. Remove any and all veto powers. Allow it to intervene only in any country that is at war to stop the war (if invaded to remove and destroy the invader,if invading to destroy the regime attacking), or is not a democracy ( to topple the dictatorial regime). This could stop every war in the world right now.

  • allow only parliamentary democracies, preferably without allowing political parties as those always end in corruption and friends politics

  • make voting obligatory world wide, anyone 18 and up. Teach politics in all schools world wide

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 32 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

also blared loud Christian music

Simonetti, a local real estate businesswoman who runs a house-buying firm

Jfc this article just gets worse and worse

AI slop thumbnail though

[–] Wbear@lemmy.zip 2 points 11 hours ago

Is that why they're not in real girl scout uniforms? And those boxes make no sense. Oy.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 2 days ago (2 children)

She's perfect for US Senate except for being about 50 years too young.

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

And yet 17 years too old for Trump to molest.

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[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 20 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Showed the headline to a friend and asked him what he thought she did for a living.

'Realtor' was his first guess.

[–] AgentSeven@lemmy.zip 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

She's even worse than that, she's a professional parasite. She runs a "home buying firm," which means she routinely fucks people out of an average of $50,000 per transaction. To accomplish this, she uses media (TV, billboards, print, social) to convince homeowners of a lie (they will make the same if not more money using homebuyer services than using the conventional real estate process) by telling them a truth (the transaction will be fast and they will have money in their hands in just a few days).

It's an amazing feat of leveraging human desire to absolutely fuck the dogshit out of them: they willingly believe the lie because they want the money in their hands quickly and in so doing, they get fucked out of five figures.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 day ago

Ohhh is that what those "we buy homes" signs are all about?

[–] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 2 days ago (2 children)

And she’s a 32 year old landlord too.

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[–] socsa@piefed.social 23 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Tarantulas aren't cheap pets. That's definitely sending a message.

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 45 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They're also incredibly delicate animals :(

[–] Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world 33 points 2 days ago (6 children)

For the curious, falling more than a few inches is often fatal due to a burst abdomen.

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