New York journalist arrested for hate crime after covering pro-Palestinian protests

A New York journalist was arrested Tuesday, accused of accompanying a group of pro-Palestinian protesters who spray-painted graffiti on the homes of prominent leaders at the Brooklyn Museum in June. Samuel Seligson, a freelance videographer, faces hate crime charges.

According to a criminal complaint filed by a police detective, Seligson, 31, was with the group of protesters as they defaced the facades of two apartments belonging to the museum’s director and chairman. The activists are accused of spray-painting doors and sidewalks with messages accusing the two leaders of supporting genocide. A banner hung on the home of the museum’s Jewish chairman called him a “white supremacist Zionist.”

Seligson’s attorney, Leena Widdi, said her client was acting as a credentialed member of the media, describing the hate crime charges as a “horrible” overreach by police and prosecutors. She said police raided his Brooklyn home twice before he turned himself in Tuesday morning.

Although the complaint described Seligson as a participant in the crime, a law enforcement official said he was not directly involved in the graffiti or property damage. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Seligson’s arrest drew condemnation from press freedom groups and raised questions about a journalist’s right to document illegal activity. Seligson, who is Jewish, has been a fixture at New York City protests and has licensed and sold footage to mainstream media outlets including Reuters and ABC News.

“Samuel is being charged with alleged behavior that is protected by the First Amendment and consistent with his job as a credentialed member of the press,” Widdi said in an email. “Most troubling, however, is that this member of the press is being charged with a hate crime.”

Seligson was indicted Tuesday afternoon in Brooklyn on eight counts of criminal mischief, four of which were classified as hate crimes. He was released on supervised release.

“This is an extremely serious charge against a journalist,” said Robert Balin, an attorney who has defended photojournalists arrested by the NYPD. “If he was not a participant in these events, this could be a blatant violation of the press’s right to gather news.”

To prove a hate crime charge, Balin said, prosecutors would have to show that Seligson participated in the action and targeted the directors because of their religion, race or other personal characteristics. Balin represented The Associated Press and other news organizations in negotiations over access to former President Donald Trump’s legal cases.

Seligson was previously arrested in May during a pro-Gaza demonstration. He told the US Press Freedom Tracker that he was livestreaming the demonstration as police made arrests and identified himself as a journalist. A spokesperson for the Brooklyn district attorney said the case had been closed and sealed.

The June action targeted four homes belonging to Brooklyn Museum board members, sparking allegations of anti-Semitism and condemnation from across the political spectrum.

The activists wore face masks and dark clothing as they painted slogans on the homes of council members, according to court documents. They also hung banners with an inverted red triangle that authorities say is a symbol used by Hamas to identify Israeli military targets.

The action came days after hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the lobby of the Brooklyn Museum and marked works of art. Organizers of the event said the museum was “deeply involved and complicit” in Israel’s military actions in Gaza through its leadership, trustees, corporate sponsors and donors — an allegation museum officials deny.

Last week, police arrested another suspect, Taylor Pelton, 28, who is accused of driving the car used by the protesters. Authorities are still searching for four people involved in the incident.

As violent protests erupted in New York City against Israel’s actions in the war with Hamas, the New York Police Department came under fire for its treatment of both protesters and journalists.

In May, police officers were accused of approaching and arresting two photojournalists who were covering an encampment at a state university. Senior police officials also went after journalists on social media, accusing a freelance reporter of “making up false narratives” about the treatment of protesters.

With information from the Associated Press