Two journalists were removed from Secretary of State Antony Blinken's final news conference on Thursday after interrupting Blinken's remarks to heckle him about the United States' policy toward Gaza, a day after a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel was announced. One of the reporters, independent journalist Sam Husseini, was physically carried out of the briefing room by security.
Less than two minutes into Blinken's remarks, as he was thanking the reporters in the attendance for "asking tough questions," Max Blumenthal, the editor in chief of The Grayzone—an independent news—addressed Blinken, saying loudly in reference to the cease-fire deal: "300 reporters in Gaza were on the receiving end of your bombs. Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?" On Wednesday, President Biden announced the breakthrough, saying that “this is the ceasefire agreement I introduced last spring."
"Why did you sacrifice the rules-based order on the mantle of your commitment to Zionism," Blumenthal continued, before being led to the door. "How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide?" he yelled.
Blumenthal also called out State Department Spokesman Matt Miller, who is briefly visible in a video filmed by the journalist, who charged that Miller "smirked through a genocide."
Not long after, Husseini also interrupted Blinken.
"I am asking questions after being told by Matt Miller that he will not answer my questions," said Husseini, who also referenced the findings of Amnesty International, which concluded in December that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. "You pontificate about a free press... Criminal! Why aren't you in the Hague." The Hague is where the International Criminal Court is located.
Blinken can be heard saying "respect the process" in response to Husseini's outburst.
Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the non-interventionist "action tank" the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, remarked that "physically dragging out a reporter from the State Department briefing room while preaching press freedom to the rest of the world is the perfect example of the Biden administration's love affair with double standards and duplicity..."
