NYC journalist who documented pro-Palestinian vandalism arrested on felony hate crime charges

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City journalist was arrested Tuesday on charges that he accompanied a group of pro-Palestinian protesters as they hurled red paint at the homes of top leaders at the Brooklyn Museum earlier this summer.

Samuel Seligson, an independent videographer, faces felony hate crime charges.

According to a criminal complaint written by a police detective, Seligson, 31, traveled with the group of vandals as they defaced the facades of two apartments belonging to the museum’s director and president. The activists are accused of spray-painting doors and sidewalks with messages that accused the two leaders of supporting genocide. A banner hung at the home of the museum’s Jewish president called her a “white-supremacist Zionist.”

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

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

The arrest has drawn condemnations from press freedom groups, while raising questions about the rights of a journalist to document illegal activity. Seligson, who is Jewish, is a fixture at New York City protests and has licensed and sold footage to mainstream outlets, including Reuters and ABC News.

“Samuel is being charged for 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. “What is even more concerning, however, is that this member of the press is being charged with a hate crime.”

Seligson was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Brooklyn on eight counts of criminal mischief, four of which were classified as a hate crime. He was released on supervision.

“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 brazen violation of the right of the press to gather news.”

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

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

The June vandalism targeted four homes belonging to members of the Brooklyn Museum’s board, generating allegations of antisemitism and condemnations from across the political spectrum.

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

The vandalism came days after hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the Brooklyn Museum’s lobby and vandalized artwork. Organizers at that event said the museum was “deeply invested in 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, 28-year-old Taylor Pelton, who is accused of driving the car used by the vandals. Authorities are still seeking four people involved in the vandalism.

As fierce protests erupted in New York City against Israel’s actions in the war with Hamas, the NYPD has come under scrutiny for its treatment of both protesters and journalists.

In May, officers were accused of tackling and arresting two photojournalists covering an encampment at a state university. Top police officials have also gone after journalists on social media, accusing one freelance reporter of “inventing false narratives” about their treatment of protesters.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Pelton is not Jewish.

Jake Offenhartz, The Associated Press