A federal grand jury has indicted Christopher, DeYanna, and Paige Ostrouchko on federal assault charges tied to an April 11 incident in which Turning Point USA contributor Savanah Hernandez was shoved to the ground while reporting outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, according to an unsealed indictment and public statements from the Justice Department.
A federal grand jury has indicted Christopher Ostrouchko, his wife DeYanna Ostrouchko, and their daughter Paige Ostrouchko on charges alleging they assaulted Turning Point USA contributor Savanah Hernandez while she was reporting during an anti-ICE protest outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
The indictment was returned Tuesday and the defendants’ names were made public Wednesday, according to published reports and a statement from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. In that statement, Blanche said the three were indicted for allegedly assaulting Hernandez while she was lawfully reporting outside a federal building.
“Hernandez was allegedly surrounded, physically assaulted, and shoved to the ground — simply because she was identified by the defendants as a conservative journalist. That is NOT ‘peaceful protest.’”
Video shared online from the scene shows a confrontation in which Hernandez is pushed and falls back near a fence; subsequent moments show additional heated exchanges involving members of the same family. Hernandez later posted that she woke up with a headache and a stiff neck and said she had scrapes after being shoved to the ground.
FBI Director Kash Patel also posted a warning about the case, saying the bureau would pursue similar allegations.
Local law enforcement had initially arrested three people at the scene — Christopher Ostrouchko, Paige Ostrouchko, and Paige’s boyfriend, Lorenzo Garcia — according to reporting that cited the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. The federal indictment, however, names Christopher, DeYanna, and Paige Ostrouchko; Garcia was not included.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon had said days after the incident that the Justice Department and the FBI would investigate. The three defendants have been summoned to appear in federal court on May 12, according to the Associated Press.
An attorney for the family, James Cook, told the Associated Press that the publicly circulated videos do not show the entire incident and that he believes the family will be able to mount a vigorous defense.
The case has drawn broader attention as confrontations around immigration enforcement protests in the Twin Cities area continue to test how authorities, demonstrators and media figures navigate safety and access on and near federal property.
