Brooklyn Museum director home vandal charged, Hamas flags flown at museum
The New York Police Department said on Thursday that 28-year-old Queens resident Taylor Pelton had been arrested on Wednesday and charged with hate crime criminal mischief against property.
Protests continued outside the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday, three days after the arrest of the activist who had vandalized the home of museum director Anne Pasternak with terrorist symbols during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
The New York Police Department said that 28-year-old Queens resident Taylor Pelton was arrested and charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime on Wednesday.
On June 11, the front of Pasternak’s home was painted red, and doors were marked with the red inverted triangles used in terrorist propaganda to indicate a target of enemies.
“Anne Pasternak/Brooklyn Museum/white supremacist Zionist,” read a banner with red hand prints hung at the director’s home.
The vandalism was roundly condemned by New York City councilors, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The Brooklyn Museum said that Pasternak and other museum leadership had been targeted by “these horrible acts.”
“For two centuries, the Brooklyn Museum has worked to foster mutual understanding through art and culture, and we have always supported peaceful protest and open, respectful dialogue,” the museum said at the time. “Violence, vandalism, and intimidation have no place in that discourse.”
The museum had been the focus of several anti-Israel protests prior to the vandalism of the home. Activists led by Within Our Lifetime (WOL) demand that the institution recognize a supposed genocide against Palestinians, disclose any financial ties to Israel, and pay “reparations for its contributions to colonial looting and gentrification.”
Hamas Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades flag waves in front of the Brooklyn Museum on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/Si5oIKuq4l
— Michael Starr (@StarrJpost) August 5, 2024
WOL led protests on Saturday to “flood Brooklyn for Black and Palestinian liberation” in an “international day of solidarity with Gaza and Palestinian prisoners.” Protests were held outside of the sports arena in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Museum.
Hamas flags fly
According to videos published by WOL on X, activists waved a Hamas Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades flag (the terror group’s military wing) and a Hamas flag at the demonstrations. One protester in a keffiyeh could be seen wearing a Hamas headband.
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