Reporters Face Prison for Criticizing Israel

Attacks on press freedoms have come thick and fast under Donald Trump’s second tilt at the presidency, whether deporting a visa holder for writing an op-ed criticizing Israel or his various lawsuits against news outlets whose coverage displeased him. But not all of the attacks have come from the Trump administration. In fact, at least one New York case was the office of a Democrat in a blue city that was leading the charge.

Last Friday, a judge dismissed charges against Hudson Valley photojournalist Alexa Wilkinson, who had photographed the New York Times building after it had been defaced by protesters unhappy with the paper’s Gaza coverage last July, then posted the resulting footage later. Despite not damaging any property or taking part in any vandalism themself, Wilkinson (who uses they/them pronouns) was arrested, had their home raided and ransacked, saw thousands of dollars’ worth of their property seized, and faced potentially years in prison after being slapped with the charge of a felony hate crime by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. Responding to a list of queries from Jacobin, a spokesperson for the DA’s office said that “following a thorough investigation, our office moved to dismiss the case, which a judge ultimately granted,” adding that they could not comment further or provide more information as it was now sealed.

The case had aroused outrage from journalists and First Amendment advocates, who gathered in New York’s Foley Square shortly after Wilkinson’s arrest last year to protest what they called an attack on press freedoms. Particularly ironic was the fact that Bragg had been swept into power five years ago on promises to “hold people in power accountable,” roll back mass incarceration, and “address issues in a non-carceral way.”

Instead, his office spent the past half year trying to put an independent reporter critical of the New York Times in prison.

“This case represented a troubling attempt to criminalize protected expression and to stretch hate crime laws beyond their lawful purpose,” says Terra Brockman, staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice, who represented Wilkinson in the case.

“I’m relieved these charges aren’t hanging over me anymore,” Wilkinson says. “But I’m angry that it happened