Pawling woman arrested, accused of attacking group of senior citizen anti-ICE protesters
Stephanie Rogers said the woman punched her, tore up her sign and threw her phone in the woods. She said the woman also broke another protester's glasses before driving off.
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A Pawling woman is facing charges, accused of accosting a group of senior citizens who were demonstrating against Immigration and Customs Enforcement Saturday afternoon along a major road.
Protester Stephanie Rogers told News 12 that Annette Strehle “was attacking a bunch of grandmas standing on the street” who were holding up signs.
Strehle, 52, was charged with two counts of criminal mischief with intent to damage property after the incident at East Main Street and Route 22 – the southern gateway into Pawling.
Rogers and six others were protesting against ICE following the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis. She says she saw a woman believed to be Strehle exit her car, cross two lanes of traffic and push one of the older protesters out of her chair.
Rogers said the woman then punched her, tore up her sign and threw her phone in the woods. She said the woman also broke another protester's glasses before driving off.
"I think it's ironic," Rogers said, "that the people who wave the flag the loudest seem to be the ones who get most upset when people exercise the rights that it guarantees us."
The group called police and provided the car's license plate number. Strehle was arrested about three hours after the incident.
Assemblyman AJ Beephan said Monday in a Zoom interview that he hopes some of his constituents learn a few things from this episode, including restraint and respect of another person's right to protest.
"I don't care what side of the aisle you're on, or what you're advocating for," Beephan, a Republican, said. "You have a right to be out there and do that. They should have never been put in that situation to begin with."
Strehle is due in court on Feb. 10 to be arraigned on the two charges. She has not responded to several calls seeking comment for this story.
Rogers says she'll be back out protesting again this Saturday. She is considering taking a precaution she never previously thought she would take – carrying pepper-spray.
