Journalist Sam Husseini was dragged out of the State Department briefing room by security personnel during a briefing led by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken was delivering remarks about the ceasefire deal that was reached in Gaza and was interrupted multiple times by reporters, including Husseini, demanding he respond to their questions regarding US support to Israel and Israel’s military policies.
Videos of the dramatic scene wherein Husseini, sitting quietly, is manhandled and dragged out of the room have circulated widely, even on cable news station CNN. According to Husseini himself, before security grabbed him, he had asked Blinken about the Hannibal Directive, a controversial Israeli military policy which aims to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers “by all means”, including by killing their own people.
Reporter @samhusseini was just physically dragged from Blinken’s briefing. “Why aren’t you at The Hague?” he asked. pic.twitter.com/Nvs10aFjgh
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) January 16, 2025
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… https://t.co/1VcopsaYDg
— Sam Husseini (@samhusseini) January 16, 2025
As he was being dragged out of the room, Husseini shouted at Blinken “Do you know about the Hannibal directive? Do you know about Israel’s nuclear weapons?”
“Why aren’t you at The Hague?” Husseini shouted as he continued to be fully dragged from the room.
Blinken’s press briefing was also disrupted by journalist Max Blumenthal, who shouted at Blinken, “Why did you allow my friends to be massacred? Why did you allow my friends’ homes in Gaza to be destroyed when we had a deal in May?”
“How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide?” Blumenthal asked Blinken while being escorted out.