NEW YORK: A woman who police say helped vandalize the homes of the Brooklyn Museum’s leaders with red paint during a wave of pro-Palestinian protests has been arrested on hate crimes charges.
Taylor Pelton, 28, was arrested Wednesday on charges of criminal mischief and criminal mischief as a hate crime, police said.
Police say Pelton was one of six people seen on surveillance video vandalizing the homes of Brooklyn Museum Director Anne Pasternak and museum President and Chief Operating Officer Kimberly Trueblood on June 12.
Pelton was arraigned Wednesday night and released with court supervision, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said.
In an email, Pelton’s attorney, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, criticized “the increasing trend of characterizing Palestine solidarity actions as hate crimes.”
According to court papers, Pelton was part of a group of people seen on surveillance video spray-painting red paint the homes of Pasternak and Trueblood and hanging banners that with slogans like “BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS” AND “WHITE SUPREMACIST, FUNDS GENOCIDE.”
An inverted red triangle that authorities say is a symbol used by Hamas to identify Israeli military targets was sprayed onto Pasternak’s door, according to court papers.
The other people seen in the videos are still being sought, the district attorney said.
The vandalism targeting Pasternak, who is Jewish, was denounced by Mayor Eric Adams and other officials.
“This is not peaceful protest or free speech,” Adams said on X. “This is a crime, and it’s overt, unacceptable antisemitism.”
The vandalism happened days after hundreds of pro-Palestinians protesters marched to the museum and occupied the lobby.
Meltzer-Cohen said in her email that the willingness of prosecutors “to endorse the rhetorical collapse of Zionist ideology and protected religious identity, in order to criminalize criticism of Israel, signals a troubling departure from the principles on which our legal and political systems rest.”
Museum officials said in a statement that “it is crucial to distinguish between peaceful protest and criminal acts.”
The officials said the museum’s vision “remains rooted in the belief that art fosters dialogue and mutual understanding among people with diverse experiences and perspectives.”
A woman is arrested in vandalism at museum officials’ homes during pro-Palestinian protests
https://arab.news/4jnu4
A woman is arrested in vandalism at museum officials’ homes during pro-Palestinian protests
- Taylor Pelton, 28, was arrested Wednesday on charges of criminal mischief and criminal mischief as a hate crime, police said
- Pelton was arraigned Wednesday night and released with court supervision, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said
Palestine Action hunger strike prisoner loses ability to speak
- Heba Muraisi unable to ‘form sentences’ as she feels ‘weaker as each day passes’
- Fellow activist Teuta Hoxha ‘virtually bedridden’ as hunger strike continues
LONDON: A prisoner on hunger strike in the UK, detained for activities in support of the banned group Palestine Action, has lost the ability to speak, The Independent reported.
Heba Muraisi said in a statement that she can no longer “form sentences, and (is) struggling to maintain conversation.” She added via the Prisoners for Palestine group that she feels “weaker as each day passes.”
Campaigners say another prisoner on hunger strike now cannot stand up. Eight activists initially went on strike awaiting trial for a range of alleged offenses relating to Palestine Action, including violence and criminal damage.
Earlier this month two of the activists, Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib, paused their strikes after 48 days and were admitted to hospital.
As well as Muraisi, three others remain on hunger strike: Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello.
Hoxha, according to Prisoners for Palestine, is “no longer able to stand without blacking out,” experiences “increasing levels of brain fog” and is “virtually bedridden.”
The hunger strikers are demanding immediate bail and to be allowed to “send and receive communications without restriction, surveillance, or interference from the prison administration.”
The eight have been charged over two incidents, a break-in at a Royal Air Force base in June that saw two military aircraft damaged, and a break-in at a facility owned by Israeli-linked defense company Elbit Systems UK on Nov. 19, 2024.
A spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine said: “Unlike the prison guards, who lock up the prisoners early to go home to their Christmas dinner, the hunger strikers don’t get a Christmas break.
“Just like the Christians in Gaza, who continue to suffer in the freezing cold at the hands of the settler-colonial entity.
“The hunger strikers say to us, don’t forget the people of Palestine over Christmas, and continue to demand a meeting with the British government on their behalf.”
Lawyers acting for the eight have said they risk death if their strike continues and the government does not intervene.
Earlier this month, protests took place led by MP Zarah Sultana over claims that Zuhrah had been refused an ambulance, and the hunger strikers’ legal teams have begun action against the government over what they say are breaches of its own prison safety policy framework.
Prisons Minister James Timpson said: “We are very experienced at dealing with hunger strikes. Unfortunately, over the last five years we have averaged over 200 hunger strike incidents every year and the processes that we have are well-established and they work very well — with prisons working alongside our NHS (National Health Service) partners every day, making sure our systems are robust and working — and they are.
“I am very clear. I don’t treat any prisoners differently to others. That is why we will not be meeting any prisoners or their representatives.
“We have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system.”
