NYPD Weaponizes Hate Crimes Law Against A Journalist

Press freedom and First Amendment groups immediately condemned this extraordinary attack on journalism

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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New York police raided the Brooklyn home of local journalist Samuel Seligson—twice—and charged him with a “hate crime” for covering an action by activists opposed to Israel's war on Gaza that involved spray-painting the homes of Brooklyn Museum directors. 

Press freedom and First Amendment groups immediately condemned this extraordinary attack on journalism by New York authorities, which was clearly intended to discourage coverage of more militant acts of protest. 

“Journalists play an important role in documenting protests and they should be allowed to gather news without fear of arrest or retaliation,” declared Katherine Jacobsen, a U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

PEN America digital safety program director Viktorya Vila said, “Reporting is not a crime. The work of journalists is protected by the First Amendment and can require proximity to criminal activity.”

“Cops and prosecutors have dreamed up plenty of convoluted theories to criminalize journalism, but [the NYPD] charging a reporter with a hate crime for documenting news has to be one of the most outrageous yet,” the Freedom of the Press Foundation asserted. 

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