
Security personnel remove journalist Sam Husseini from the press conference room. (Screenshot from video circulating on social media networks)
BEIRUT — Sam Husseini, a Jordanian-Palestinian journalist, was forcibly removed by security personnel during a press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday. Husseini had called Blinken a "criminal" and pressed him for answers regarding his support for the Israeli military actions in Gaza. Videos of Husseini being escorted out of the room by two security guards quickly spread across social media. While some criticized Husseini for "interrupting the press conference," others argued that he had a right to his questions and advocated freedom of the press.
U.S. journalist Max Blumenthal also confronted Blinken, asking, “Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?” He further questioned Blinken on the destruction of homes in Gaza and the killing of journalists, adding that 300 reporters in Gaza had been targeted by Israeli bombs. Blumenthal was also asked to leave the press conference.
Before being escorted out, Husseini accused the Biden administration of complicity in alleged Israeli war crimes. As he was being removed, he said, “You pontificate about a free press! I am asking questions after being told by [State Department spokesman] Matt Miller that he would not answer my questions.”
Husseini then shouted, “Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?” referring to the International Criminal Court where an ongoing trial for genocide in Gaza and accusations of the crime against humanity by rights groups have been filed.
He also referenced findings from Amnesty International, which in December had accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Blumenthal later praised Husseini in a tweet, calling him a national hero. “Before a national audience, with three massive Secret Service cops dragging him out, and Blinken ordering him to ‘respect the process,’ Sam manages to mention Israel’s secret nukes and cites the ICJ and Amnesty (International) on its policy of extermination,” Blumenthal wrote.
Earlier this week, Blinken was interrupted three times during a speech at the Atlantic Council on post-war reconstruction in Gaza.
Protesters accused him of complicity in alleged Israeli war crimes, with one shouting, “You will forever be known as Bloody Blinken.” Another protester called him a “war monster,” while a third accused him of being a “secretary of genocide,” before being escorted out by security personnel.
Human rights lawyer Craig Mokhaiber wrote on X, “Be more like @MaxBlumenthal and @samhusseini, real journalists who consistently challenge power and hold perpetrators to account. Bravo!”
Journalist Jason Smith wrote “Americans are so 'free.'...”