UWSP student arrested for attacking reporter

STEVENS POINT – Paige Ostroushko, a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point soccer player and psychology major, faces charges for assaulting journalist Savanah Hernandez on April 11. The attack occurred outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, Minn. during an anti-ICE protest.
Also arrested by Hennepin County Sheriff deputies were Paige’s father and mother, Chris and DeYanna Ostroushko.
Protesters became aggressive when they learned Hernandez, an independent reporter, was affiliated with Turning Point USA, a conservative group.
“I wasn’t even speaking to them. They confronted, surrounded and assaulted me for just being there,” Hernandez later reported on X.com (Twitter).
Video footage from multiple angles and cameras showed Paige Ostroushko purposefully antagonizing Hernandez by blowing a whistle next to her ear as Hernandez held up her hand to block the noise. Meanwhile, a middle-aged woman twirled a pink rubber sex toy like whirlybird in Hernandez’s face.

This led up to three hands-on assaults towards Hernandez: one is of Paige punching Hernandez with a roundhouse right and then knocking her down into a chain-link fence with a headshot shoving lunge.
Next, Mrs. Ostroushko is recorded slapping at Hernandez, accusing her of hitting her daughter. Then Chris Ostroushko, a heavy-set bald man, approached Hernandez from behind and shoved her hard down to the pavement.
Hernandez went to leave the scene and was blocked by Paige and surrounded by other protesters. It appears she threw a right jab at Paige in self-defense and she ran past a gate to escape. Paige and her mother gang tackled her to the ground. Other protesters peeled the mother and daughter off Hernandez and yelled for them to stop.
After the scuffle, sheriff deputies stepped in to restrain Paige. She repeatedly said, “Don’t touch me, don’t touch me.” As she resisted arrest, an officer put her in a headlock. A mob surrounded them and the officer released Paige and pepper sprayed the protesters.
Paige Ostroushko is a graduate of Shattuck St. Mary’s and her hometown is Prior Lake, Minn.
The Stevens Point Gazette contacted UWSP to see if Ostroushko would face disciplinary action or expulsion. “UW-Stevens Point is aware of the out-of-state incident that occurred over the weekend and is monitoring the situation. The university is unable to comment further due to federal student privacy laws,” said Carrie Heibler, Director of Strategic Communications for UWSP/
The UWSP Student-Athlete Handbook includes a pledge with the following points:
“3. I understand that harmful behavior such as rape, sexual assault, physical violence, domestic/dating violence, stalking, bullying, hazing, and taking or sharing photos and videos of a sexually explicit/violent nature is never okay and will not be tolerated.
4. I understand very distinctly and very clearly that if I commit or participate in any of the harmful behaviors described in #4 - I may be dismissed from this team and that my teammates will also be dismissed if they commit or participate in the harmful behaviors described in #3.”