Annie Rice supporter alleges ‘bothersome’ exchange between 8th Ward aldermanic candidate Paul Fehler and his canvassers

An 8th Ward woman has alleged on social media that aldermanic candidate Paul Fehler and two other men intimidated her while canvassing her home on January 20. And one of the men continued to do so on Facebook’s Shaw Neighborhood page, where she posted about her experience.

Fehler is the Democratic nominee in the February 13 special election for 8th Ward alderman, running against Independent candidate Annie Rice. Fehler and Rice are the ward’s Democratic committeemen. Fehler has not yet responded to The St. Louis American’s call or email.

On January 26, the woman posted on the Shaw Neighborhood page that something “bothersome” had happened to her. (She asked that we withhold her name because of the inflammatory comments made about her on Facebook following her post.)

“On Saturday afternoon, three men came to my house,” she wrote. “I instantly recognized one of them as Paul Fehler and pointed to my Annie Rice sign. Instead of respecting my wishes and leaving, they surrounded me in a semicircle and made me feel uncomfortable.”

She told The American that she stepped out onto her porch because she was trying to keep her dog inside. In the post, she said the men took turns asking why she supported Rice. She believes Rice’s progressive views align more closely with her family’s priorities, she wrote later.

“I tried ending the conversation, but one at a time they subjected me to their mansplanations,” she wrote. “One of the men forcefully shook my hand and would not let go. At first I thought I might have been overreacting because I was home alone. But this week, I spoke to a neighbor who had a similar experience.”

She told The American that she has also spoken with two other women who felt the same way but were reluctant to come forward.

“I can’t stop thinking about this,” she wrote in her post. “As the election approaches, I am getting nervous about more of these intimidation tactics. I just wanted to put this out there so others might not have to experience what I did.”

Several of Fehler’s supporters immediately replied that she should have gone inside or done things differently.

Fehler replied to her, “I will start by saying that I apologize for what was clearly a bad conversation. I apologize for it. Your takeaway from the interaction indicates to me that we didn’t do a good job.”

He stated that he didn’t say much during the entire conversation and wasn’t trying to “mansplain” anything.

“The only words out of my mouth were, ‘Hello my name is…’” Fehler wrote. “And in response to your assertion that we need more women in politics, ‘I agree with you hundred percent.’ Those are the only two sentences out of my mouth in what, I will agree with you totally, was a strange and sorta tense conversation.”

He apologized for “indirectly and unintentionally bringing unpleasantness” to her door.

“I will not mince words with that,” Fehler said. “That’s not who I am, and not what I’m about. I apologize and ask for your forgiveness.”

Later in the thread, he also stated that he has hated the way that men have treated women his entire life.

She thanked him for addressing and validating her feelings.

“My concern is that you claim to hate the way that men treat women yet you stood there while your supporters pressed on,” she wrote. “You even admit that the conversation was strange and sorta tense.”

Sarah Stout, a resident and an administrator on the page, said that she hopes next time Fehler will speak up. “Not saying anything isn’t really a good answer,” she wrote.

Fehler still has a chance to do so, as one of the canvassers who was with him that day, Emmett Coleman III, has taken to slamming the woman on another post initiated by Coleman’s girlfriend. In several long replies to others asking questions about the situation, Coleman, who is black, alleges that the woman was the aggressor and is prejudiced.

“She came to the door and was hostile and immediately asked, ‘You didn’t see my Annie sign? Why can’t you respect me?’” Coleman wrote.

The other man canvassing with them was 26th Ward Democratic Committeeman Joe Palm, who is also black.

“She felt threatened by the only two males out of the three that were black,” Coleman stated. “I deal with racism all the time and that seemed prejudiced, especially since I asked her one question politely.”

A Shaw resident told The American that the woman is active in anti-racism and anti-bias conversations in the neighborhood. She also has a Black Lives Matter sign prominently displayed in her window.

Coleman said that she “looked with disgust” when the other man put his hand out to offer to shake.

“All she did was get to experience what many minorities feel,” he stated.

In fact, the woman in question is a woman of color.

The page’s administrators said they have taken her original post down because three people, including Coleman, had mentioned where she lives in their comments. Rice told The American that her only comment about the situation is that she is telling her canvassers to be respectful of Fehler’s supporters.

The woman said her motive for writing the post was to give other women who don’t feel comfortable arguing with canvassers a heads up that they might not want to answer their doors.

“And now people are assuming I’m something that I’m not,” she said, “and that’s hard to hear.”