US Journalist Arrested for Filming Pro-Palestine Protest

By Staff, Agencies

US police arrested a journalist for recording a protest against Israel's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza Strip, accusing him of hate crime and criminal mischief.

The New York Police Department [NYPD] charged video-journalist Samuel Seligson with filming activists painting anti-Zionist graffiti on the homes of Brooklyn Museum Director Anne Pasternak and three board members on June 12.

Anonymous activists spray-painted Palestinian resistance symbols on Anne Pasternak's residence and hoisted a banner stating, "Anne Pasternak Brooklyn Museum White-Supremacist Zionist."

They also painted slogans like "Blood on Your Hands" on board members' sidewalks.

Leena Widdi, Seligson’s attorney, stated that NYPD officers raided her client’s Brooklyn apartment twice before he surrendered.

She argued that her client, acting as a media credentialed member, was presenting hate crime charges as an "appalling" overreach by police and prosecutors.

The state has not provided any evidence that he was present or engaged in any activities beyond mere presence, according to Widdi.

Independent videographer Seligson faced felony hate crime charges for recording pro-Palestine protest, with eight counts of criminal mischief, four of which are hate crimes.

Seligson was arrested in May for livestreaming a pro-Gaza demonstration while multiple arrests were made by the police.