A video shows a reporter physically removed after interrupting Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a briefing on Thursday.
Newsweek reached out to Blinken's office for comment.
Why It Matters
Blinken held a press conference on Thursday to share more details about postwar Gaza plans. He shared the "core elements" just days before his term ends.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal to pause the devastating war in Gaza, multiple sources confirmed Wednesday, raising the chance to end the deadliest conflict between the two enemies. The United States and Qatar confirmed the agreement. The war, which has gone on for over a year, has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry.
What To Know
The Associated Press reported that two journalists were removed after interrupting Blinken during the press briefing. They shouted and accused Blinken of being complicity with Israel's violence against the people in Gaza. One of the men yelled, "Why aren't you in The Hague?" referring to the world's top war crimes court.
Blinken stopped his comments briefly and asked the reporters to "respect the process," adding that he would take questions shortly.
Both reporters were physically removed from the room.
One of the men has been identified as Sam Husseini. He is a Jordanian-Palestinian writer and the communications director at the Institute for Public Accuracy. Husseini has reposted various videos "holding Blinken and this administration accountable" to his account on X, formerly Twitter.
A video of the incident shows Husseini saying he was told that State Department spokesman Matthew Miller would "not explicitly answer my questions."
"I am justified in what I'm doing," Husseini said as officers grabbed his arms and pulled him to stand from his chair. Husseini grabs onto the edge of the table where he has a notebook, phone and computer.
Husseini repeated "Get your hands off me" multiple times and told Blinken to answer his "damn question."
"I was sitting here quietly and now I'm being manhandled by two, three people," Husseini said. "You pontificate about a free press. You are hurting me."
This was not the first time Husseini had gotten angry with the State Department. In June of last year, he asked about a "Hannibal directive," to which Miller said he was "not familiar in any way with either that supposed directive or those reports."
Husseini interrupted Miller and repeatedly asked, "You've never heard of the Hannibal directive?" as Miller moved on to the next question.
In 2011, the executive director of the National Press Club suspended Husseini for asking the Saudi ambassador to the United States questions that were "loaded statements."
He also was removed in 2018 from a summit press conference between Russia and the United States before then-President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin arrived. Husseini was holding a sign that read "Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty."
The other reporter was Max Blumenthal, the editor of The Grayzone News, who asked Blinken, "Why did you allow my friends to be massacred?"
A woman approached Blumenthal and said, "I'm sorry, but we're going to have to ask you to leave." Blumenthal got up and started to approach Blinken. The woman ushered him out.
What People Are Saying
Max Blumenthal, the editor of The Grayzone News, on X: "Sam Husseini is a national treasure. 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 on its policy of extermination."
Journalist Sam Husseini, on X: "I was seriously manhandled but I'm back home...thanks for all support folks. My intention was to ask tough questions at every opportunity during the news conference which State personnel obviously cut short:
* Was the point of the May 31 announcement to block implementation of the May 24 ICJ order?
* Why do you refuse to recognize the Geneva conventions as applying to Gaza?
* Everyone from Amnesty International to the ICC accuses Israel of extermination and genocide. Why are you not in the Hague?
* Why was your step father Pisar connected to both Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein?
* Miller here pretends not to know about the Hannibal directive - do you know about the Hannibal directive?
* Why do you not even acknowledge Israel's nuclear weapons?
I have written about each of these subjects and will continue to do so via http://husseini.org."
Writer Tim Shorrock, on X: "'I can't speak to who that was,' @CNN says as the well-known @samhusseini is carried out of Blinken's whitewash of the US-Israel genocide in Gaza. Kudos to my brave friend Sam for speaking truth to power again and again. This is Bloody Blinken's legacy."
What's Next
When President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the Republican has nominated Florida Senator Marco Rubio to take over as secretary of state, ending Blinken's time in office.
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