NEW YORK — A New York City journalist was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of a hate crime after filming a pro-Palestinian protest earlier this summer in which activists red paint thrown in the homes of top executives at the Brooklyn Museum.
Samuel Seligson, an independent videographer, was not involved in the vandalism and is only charged with documenting it, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Leena Widdi, Seligson’s attorney, said New York Police Department officers raided Seligson’s Brooklyn apartment twice in the past week before he turned himself in Tuesday morning.
She described the arrest and use of a hate crimes law as an “appalling” overreach by police against a journalist with a city-issued press credential. Seligson is a regular at Protests in New York City who has licensed and sold images to major media outlets including Reuters and ABC News.
“Samuel is being charged with alleged conduct protected by the First Amendment and consistent with his job as an authorized public official. member of the press,” Widdi said in an email. “What is even more concerning is that this member of the press is being charged with a hate crime.”
An NYPD spokesman confirmed that Seligson was charged Tuesday with two counts of criminal damage with a hate crime, a misdemeanor. The spokesman declined to say what he was accused of during the protest.
Seligson was arrested earlier in May during a separate pro-Gaza demonstration. He told the US Press Freedom Tracker that he was livestreaming the protest as police made arrests and identified himself as a journalist. A spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney said the case was closed and sealed.
The June vandalism targeted four homes of Brooklyn Museum board members, including its Jewish director, sparking accusations of anti-Semitism and condemnation from across the political spectrum.
The activists wore face masks and dark clothing as they spray-painted slogans on the board members’ homes accusing them of financing genocide, court documents said. They also hung banners with an inverted red triangle, which authorities say is a symbol used by Hamas to identify Israeli military targets, prosecutors said.
The vandalism came days after hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the lobby of the Brooklyn Museum and destroyed artwork. Organizers of that event said the museum was “deeply involved in and complicit” in Israel’s military actions in Gaza through its leadership, trustees, corporate sponsors and donors — a claim museum officials deny.
Last week the police another suspect arrested28-year-old Taylor Pelton, who is accused of driving the car used by the vandals. Pelton, like Seligson, is Jewish. Authorities are still searching for four people involved in the vandalism.
As massive protests break out in New York City over Israel’s war in Gaza, the NYPD has come under fire for its treatment of both protesters and journalists.
In May, agents were accused of targeting and arresting two photojournalists who were covering an encampment at a state university. Top agents have also journalists on social mediaaccusing a freelance reporter of making up “false stories” about their treatment of protesters.