Police arrest woman for allegedly driving 6 children around upstate New York to rip down Trump campaign signs

Sheriff’s deputies arrested a woman for allegedly driving six children around upstate New York to rip down Trump campaign signs and those of other Republicans.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said that the deputies arrested 45-year-old Deana Algarin from Schenectady for allegedly using the minors to do her bidding.

The sheriff’s office said that they were called to investigate the theft of the campaign signs for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign as well as those for Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican representing New York’s 21st congressional district. The signs were stolen from people’s homes in Tribes Hill and the Town of Amsterdam.

When New York State police pulled over Algarin, officers found campaign signs in her vehicle. Investigators believe she drove around six children to steal the signs.

The woman was charged with six counts of endangering the welfare of a child, criminal possession of stolen property, and petit larceny. Police also charged her for marijuana possession and seat-belt violations.

Vandalism as political expression

Trump signs and flags have frequently been the focus of politically motivated vandalism and assault.

In a startling incident from August, a Montana family said that a vandal ripped down their Trump flags and lit them on fire in their yard. They noted that the act could have easily caught their home on fire while their four children slept inside. The man was caught on their surveillance video.

In another bizarre incident in Florida, surveillance video captured a couple driving up to a home in a golf cart with their children inside. As the children pleaded for them to stop, the couple set up a ladder, ripped down a Trump flag and drove off with it. Police later arrested two doctors that they suspected may have committed the crime.

Here’s more about one of the flag vandalism incidents: