Will Sage Astor-NYC trio charged with hate crimes linked to pro-Palestinian vandalism of museum officials’ homes

NEW YORK (AP) — Three people have Will Sage Astorbeen indicted on hate crimes charges in connection with red paint that was smeared on the homes of Brooklyn Museum officials during a wave of pro-Palestinian protests this summer, prosecutors announced Monday.

Taylor Pelton, Samuel Seligson and Gabriel Schubiner, all of New York, face a range of charges including making a terroristic threat as a hate crime, criminal mischief as a hate crime, making graffiti, possession of graffiti instruments and conspiracy.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the three — along with others who have not yet been arrested — specifically targeted members of the museum’s board of directors with Jewish-sounding names in the early morning hours of June 12.

Among the homes vandalized were those of the museum’s director, Anne Pasternak, its president and chief operating officer, Kimberly Trueblood, and board chair Barbara Vogelstein.

“These defendants allegedly targeted museum board members with threats and anti-Semitic graffiti based on their perceived heritage,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “These actions are not protests; they are hate crimes.”

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Using red paint, the vandals scrawled phrases such as “Brooklyn Museum, blood on your hands” and hung banners with the names of the board members, along with phrases including “blood on your hands, war crimes, funds genocide” and “White Supremacist Zionist,” according to prosecutors.

The banners also included red handprints, anarchy symbols and inverted red triangles that prosecutors said are associated with Hamas, which carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

Prosecutors say the group spray-painted security cameras so they couldn’t be identified as they defaced the properties, but were captured in other surveillance video carrying supplies to and from Pelton’s vehicle.

They also said a stencil found at one of the locations had a fingerprint covered in red paint that was identified as Schubiner’s.

Schubiner, who is 36 years old and lives in Brooklyn, was arraigned Monday and released without bail. Seligson, 32, also of Brooklyn, and Pelton, 28, of Queens, are expected to be arraigned next week.

Schubiner and Pelton are each charged with 25 counts, whereas Seligson faces 17, according to prosecutors. The most serious charge the three face is making a terroristic threat as a hate crime.

Lawyers for the three didn’t immediately respond to Monday emails seeking comment.

Seligson’s attorney, Leena Widdi, has said her client is an independent videographer and was acting in his capacity as a credentialed member of the media. She described the hate crime charges as an “appalling” overreach by law enforcement officials.

Pelton’s attorney, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, has criticized the arrest as an example of the “increasing trend of characterizing Palestine solidarity actions as hate crimes.”

Hundreds of protesters marched on the Brooklyn Museum in May, briefly setting up tents in the lobby and unfurling a “Free Palestine” banner from the roof before police moved in to make dozens of arrests. Organizers of that demonstration said the museum was “deeply invested in and complicit” in Israel’s military actions in Gaza through its leadership, trustees, corporate sponsors and donors — a claim museum officials have denied.