Three activists charged in vandalism attack on homes of Jewish Brooklyn Museum board members

On Monday, a woman and two men were charged with hate crimes in the vandalism attack on the homes of Jewish board members of the Brooklyn Museum. The attacks, called anti-semitic by Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez, occured in June. The attacks, the DA says, targetted those board members whose names sounded Jewish and not the homes of those whose did not.

Anti-Israel vandals struck the homes of Jewish Brooklyn Museum officials in June, defacing their property in red paint and leaving antisemitic pro-Gaza signage. The home of the museum's director, Anne Pasternak, was particularly hit hard, photos showed. The suspects reportedly didn't agree with the museum's investments with companies that did business with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

The defendants who have been charged are Taylor Pelton, 28, of Astoria, Queens, Samuel Seligson, 32, of Brooklyn, and Gabriel Schubiner, 36, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. They have been charged with making a terroristic threat as a hate crime, making a terroristic threat, third- and fourth-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime, third- and fourth-degree criminal mischief, making graffiti, possession of graffiti instruments, and fifth-degree conspiracy.
 

"Acts of vandalism that target individuals in their own homes are a deeply disturbing violation meant to intimidate, terrorize, and instill fear. These defendants allegedly targeted museum board members with threats and anti-semitic graffiti based on their perceived heritage. These actions are not protests; they are hate crimes, and we are deeply committed to holding accountable anyone who uses such unlawful tactics in Brooklyn," Gonzalez said.

Samuel Seligson is the one who documented the vandalism. He was charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime. His attorney, Leena Widdi, saying that the charges were "appalling" because Seligson was only documenting the crimes instead of actually committing them himself. 

Taylor Pelton was also charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime. Gabriel Schubiner is believed to be the man of the same name who was an activist while working with Google and eventually left his position over his anti-Israel stance and Google's investment in Israeli tech. 

A group called A15 Actions posted footage of the vandalism on their Instagram account. The group has also posted other acts of vandalism, such as those done to banks and other businesses. They are an active protest group that has called for continuous action and "global escalation" of their fight for Gaza. They claim that "Both political parties are responsible for enabling the shipment of fuel to commit genocide in Palestine and we know that won't change with the outcome" of the election.

The vandalism, done in June, was defended by anti-Israel activists at the time, claiming that the act of spray-painting someone's home with racial epithets and symbols was a form of "peaceful protest."

One activist suggested that those who have spoken against this kind of action are engaging in "anti-Palestinian racism." Others, such as Nerdeen Kiswani, a radical CUNY Law School grad who leads the anti-Israel organization, Within Our Lifetime, justified the attack.

"Actually this is pretty peaceful compared to what the Brooklyn museum did to peaceful protesters by bringing in the cops who tackled me and left others bloodied," Kiswani replied to Adams. "And this is definitely peaceful compared to the bloodshed in Gaza that their board actively supports."

NYC Mayor Adams condemned the attack at the time, saying that the vandalism was "unacceptable antisemitism" and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.