The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has agreed to drop the criminal case against a journalist who was arrested after documenting pro-Palestinian protesters splattering red paint on the homes of Brooklyn Museum officials last year.
Videographer Samuel Seligson was granted an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal Wednesday — meaning the charges against him will be dismissed if he stays out of criminal trouble for six months — after he was arrested for being present at a June 12 protest where six dissenters splashed crimson paint outside a Brooklyn Heights building where Brooklyn Museum Executive Director Anne Pasternak lives. The protesters also targeted the homes of two other museum officials, prosecutors had alleged.
Pro-Palestinian protesters vandalized the homes of Brooklyn Museum Director Anne Pasternak and several Jewish board members early Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in what local elected officials called an act of “vile anti-Semitism.” (Brad Lander; Lincoln Restler via X)
Seligson and his attorneys maintained he committed no crime — that he was covering the protest in his role as a journalist and took no part in the vandalism, and his presence and actions were protected by the First Amendment. His arrest was condemned by press freedom groups.
“Seligson’s role was that of a journalist. He was embedded in this group. He ended up being indicted on these incredibly serious crimes,” his lawyer, Ron Kuby, said Wednesday. “It’s just not something that a journalist should live with for a year and a half.”
Seligson, who is Jewish, is an independent videographer who has licensed and sold footage from protests to mainstream outlets, including Reuters and ABC News.
Cops arrested him in August 2024, and that November, a grand jury indicted him and two others on criminal mischief as a hate crime, making a terroristic threat and other offenses. He’s been free without bail since his arrest.
Samuel Seligson is pictured in police custody leaving the NYPD 7th Precinct stationhouse on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)
This past February, though, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun tossed the terroristic threat charges.
“Finally, after reviewing the evidence, the D.A. determined that Seligson did not commit any crime,” Kuby said. “We’re pleased that the charges are being dismissed. We regret it took this long.”
A source familiar with the case said prosecutors had alleged Seligson assisted in and videotaped the events, but didn’t commit the vandalism.
The vandalism was linked to opposition to the museum’s investment in companies with ties to the Israeli military, and video of the unfolding damage was posted to the Instagram account for the activist group A15 Actions.
A statement published along with the video said “artists and cultural workers” were responsible for the vandalism, which was done in response to what the activists saw as the museum’s betrayal by allegedly calling police during a May 31 protest.
A spokesman for Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez declined comment Wednesday.
With Molly Crane-Newman