Man accused of attacking conservative journalist defrauded Minnesota unemployment program

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – A man who was arrested after being caught on video shoving a conservative journalist to the ground at an anti-ICE riot Saturday was found guilty of defrauding Minnesota’s unemployment program of almost $7,000 more than 20 years ago, court documents show.

Savanah Hernandez, a reporter for Turning Point USA’s “Frontlines,” maintains that Chris Ostroushko along with his wife DeYanna and daughter Paige, attacked her while she was filming the demonstration against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside a federal building in Minneapolis. In 2005, Ostroushko was convicted after it was found that he had received thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits when he was actually employed, according to a screenshot of a legal complaint posted to X on Monday by CrimeWatchMpls, an affiliate of Minnesota-based news outlet Alpha News.

Ostroushko, who was born in 1975 according to a court document, was in his late 20s at the time the unemployment fraud took place. He ultimately received a stay of execution on his sentencing and was discharged from probation after less than two years according to the signed document dated March 2007.

“On December 31, 2002, Christopher Ostroushko applied for unemployment insurance benefits by completing an application via the Internet,” the complaint posted by CrimeWatchMpls read. “Based upon the information provided, a weekly unemployment benefit of $452.00 beginning January 5, 2003, was established for Ostroushko. Ostroushko received said benefit through July 12, 2003.”

“When calling in for the weeks ending January 18, 2003 to July 5, 2003, Ostroushko reported that he had an income of zero,” the complaint continued. “The Department of Economic Security learned that Ostroushko claimed unemployment benefits for the weeks ending January 4, 2003 to July 12, 2003, during which time he was working for Becker Carpet Service.”

“As a result of this unreported income, Ostroushko received $6,905 in unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled,” the complaint added.

Dakota County District Court did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

“Apparently Chris Ostroushko is also a Minneapolis FRAUDSTER and was convicted of defrauding the state unemployment program back in the early 2000s,” Hernandez wrote in an X post reacting to CrimeWatchMpls’ post of a screenshot of the complaint.

Hernandez posted a video of the incident to X on Sunday, which has received nearly 4 million views and 114,000 likes as of Monday afternoon. The clip shows the journalist, holding a camera and arguing with the demonstrators, before Ostroushko can be seen shoving her and shouting an expletive.

A man then shouts at Ostroushko and the crowd of protesters he is with to “back the fuck up,” adding, “it’s over.” However, Ostroushko continues to walk forward, shouting and pointing, prompting multiple people to restrain him.

“I’m waking up with a headache and stiff neck this morning due to how violently anti-ICE activist, Chris Ostroushko, shoved me down yesterday,” Hernandez wrote in the viral post. “A second angle shows that he had to be held back by 5 men as he continued to charge at me.”

The TPUSA reporter said, although she “didn’t speak a word to him all day” Ostroushko repeatedly called her a bitch “and very clearly looks like he wanted to violently hurt me even worse than he did.”

She added that she was “happy to report that charges will be brought against this man, his wife and daughter.”

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office told the DCNF that three individuals were detained and arrested in connection with the altercation with Hernandez: Mr. Ostroushko, Paige Ostroushko and her boyfriend, Lorenzo Garcia, both 20. DeYanna Ostroushko was not among the names of those charged.

Mr. Ostroushko and Mr. Garcia were arrested for obstruction with force, while Paige Ostroushko was arrested for disorderly conduct, the sheriff’s office told the DCNF.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for further comment regarding the status of the charges.

The Minnesota Star Tribune profiled Ostroushko as a “suburban dad” resembling Mr. Clean in January, the same month a series of anti-ICE riots broke out in Minneapolis in reaction to the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

The 51-year-old uses the Instagram username “mnangryman” and his now-private page has nearly 27,000 followers.

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU CAME FROM, OR WHAT COLOR YOU ARE. IT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER. THIS IS WRONG!” Ostroushko’s bio on the social media platform reads. He also indicates that his preferred pronouns are “he/him.”

Meanwhile, Paige Ostroushko, a Division III soccer player at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point uses the Instagram username “mnangrydaughter.”

A total of four individuals were arrested at the protest where Hernandez was allegedly assaulted, St. Paul-based ABC affiliate KSTP-TV reported Saturday.