Deputies respond to downtown Amenia political dispute

AMENIA — Dutchess County Sheriff’s Deputies broke up a political dispute between two Amenia residents at Fountain Square in downtown Amenia on Tuesday, July 15.

Kimberley Travis of Amenia was conducting her daily “No Kings” anti-Trump administration protest at Fountain Square at 1:15 p.m. when Jamie Deines of Amenia, a candidate for Town Board in the Nov. 4 election, approached her.

Travis told responding deputies on the scene and The News she felt threatened by Deines. “She was very intimidating,” Travis said. “And I have not felt fear in the whole time I’ve been doing this.”

A man who asked to be identified only by his first name, Tom, stopped by the square on his lunch break to chat with Travis just before Deines’s arrival. He said he too was alarmed by Deines’s demeanor and made the first call to 911 shortly after the interaction began.

In an effort to de-escalate, Travis said, she turned away and started walking down the sidewalk along Route 343 away from Fountain Square. Deines followed close behind, Travis said, and then Travis called 911 too.

The Millerton News received a letter to the editor from Travis on Monday, July 28, detailing the interaction and condemning Deines for her conduct. She sat down in The News’s office in Millerton for an interview on Wednesday, July 30; just over two weeks after the interaction.

Deines paints a different picture of the encounter. “I just countered some of her arguments about Trump,” Deines said. “And she apparently didn’t like that so she called the cops.”

Deines wouldn’t go into specifics about the conversation, but she denied being threatening or physically intimidating to Travis during the interaction. Deines said during a brief interview in the Freshtown parking lot in Amenia that responding deputies told her she wasn’t doing anything wrong.

“We were standing there, talking,” Deines said. “I was just walking and saying my piece and talking to her and asking her questions, that’s all. It’s loud. Cars are going by, so it’s loud.”

Police arrived and took statements from Deines and Travis, recorded in a redacted police report obtained by the Millerton News on July 25. According to the report, deputies told both parties they had a right to be in the square and participate in peaceful protest.

Deputies left the scene and Deines left shortly after. Travis packed up her signs and left as well, as she usually does at that time in the afternoon. There were no fines, charges or other enforcement action taken as a result of the dispute.

The News obtained a police report from the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office with redacted names. A FOIL appeal for the unredacted report was filed with the Dutchess County Attorney on Thursday, July 31, and is still pending.