Journalist Arrested After Filming Vandalism of Brooklyn Museum Leaders’ Homes

A journalist was arrested after filming the vandalism of the homes of the Brooklyn Museum‘s leaders this past June.

Samuel Seligson, an independent videographer, was charged with two counts of criminal mischief with a hate crime advancement. Criminal mischief with a hate crime advancement is a felony.

He was not involved in the vandalism of director Anne Pasternak’s home in Brooklyn Heights, where red paint was splashed across the front door and windows. A banner was hung between two columns that read: “Anne Pasternak / Brooklyn Museum / White Supremacist Zionist.” Beneath that statement, in smaller, red letters, were the words “Funds Genocide.”

The vandalism also targeted the residences of several Brooklyn Museum board trustees, generating allegations of antisemitism, including from New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Pasternak is Jewish, though the other three board members who were targeted are not, according to the New York Times.

The vandalism occurred around two weeks after a large pro-Palestine march ended in front of the museum. At that demonstration, cultural workers, artists, and New York City community inside the institution also brandished banners, beat drums, and blew whistles. The protestors inside the Brooklyn Museum called for the institution to condemn the killing of Palestinians in Gaza and to divest from its financial ties to Israel. 

More than 30 people were arrested during the protest at the Brooklyn Museum, leading some, including the institution itself, to accuse the New York Police Department of brutality.

Seligson’s attorney, Leena Widdi, told the Associated Press that NYPD officers raided Seligson’s Brooklyn apartment on two occasions in the past week. Widdi also described Seligson’s arrest and the use of a hate crime statute as an “appalling” overreach by NYPD against her client, who holds a city-issued press credential.

The Associated Press reported that Seligson has licensed and sold footage of protests in New York City to mainstream outlets, including Reuters and ABC News. However, police sources told amNewYork Metro that Seligson allegedly served as the lookout in the series of vandalism incidents and claimed that he was not seen in possession of any camera equipment. 

Seligson turned himself into the 7th Precinct station on the Lower East Side at around 7:30 a.m. on August 6, according to amNY.

He also told the US Press Freedom Tracker that he was arrested by NYPD in May and charged with three counts of obstruction while livestreaming a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Brooklyn on the video platform Twitch. Seligson said he identified himself as a journalist and filmed the police making arrests.

A spokesperson for the office of Brooklyn district attorney Eric Gonzalez told the Associated Press that the case had been closed and sealed.