Two journalists removed from briefing after interrupting Blinken

Two credentialed journalists were removed from Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final news briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16, 2025, after they interrupted his remarks with questions and comments concerning the Biden administration’s role in the Israel-Gaza war.

In a PBS News livestream of the briefing, Blinken is heard starting his remarks by thanking the press corps for the work that they’ve done and their professionalism.

“I have even greater respect, even greater appreciation for you asking the tough questions, for you holding us to account,” he said. “Being on the receiving end, sometimes that’s not always the most comfortable thing, not always the most enjoyable thing, but it is the most necessary thing in our democracy.”

As Blinken finished those comments, Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal can be heard calling out about the number of journalists in Gaza who were “on the receiving end of your bombs.” Blumenthal continued making statements and asking questions about the administration’s actions around the war, and Blinken responded only by saying that he would address questions after he had completed his remarks.

Blumenthal was ultimately directed out of the briefing room by a department employee. In a post on the social platform X, he wrote in part that he is “grateful to have finally gotten a conversation going on how America’s outgoing top diplomat repeatedly proclaimed his ethnoreligious and familial loyalty to a foreign apartheid state.”

Approximately five minutes after Blumenthal was escorted out, independent journalist Sam Husseini also interrupted Blinken. “Will you recognize the Geneva Conventions apply to the Palestinians?” Husseini asked.

Blinken again responded that he would answer questions soon, and continued with the briefing.

After another five minutes passed, Husseini interrupted with another question, after which he could be heard having a back-and-forth with a department official and saying that he wanted Blinken to answer some questions. He added, “I’m a journalist. I’m not a potted plant.”

Husseini also stated that State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told him that his questions would not be answered and so he was justified in interrupting the briefing.

In footage captured by Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim, multiple security officers then approached Husseini, pulling him out of his chair and ultimately lifting him off the ground.

“I was sitting here quietly and now I’m being manhandled by two or three people,” Husseini said. “You pontificate about a free press?”

Blinken again responded that he would answer questions after his remarks and asked that Husseini “respect the process.”

As he was carried out of the room, Husseini called out, “Everybody from Amnesty International to the ICJ (International Court of Justice) is saying that Israel’s doing genocide and extermination, and you’re telling me to ‘respect the process’? Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?”

Blinken began taking questions a few minutes after Husseini was removed from the briefing room, answering questions that were overwhelmingly about the administration’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war and ceasefire negotiations for approximately 45 minutes.

Husseini was ultimately handcuffed but later released without charges.

In a post on social media, Husseini wrote, “As I said, Miller told me they will not take my questions. I went to other staffers and journalists to complain. No one offered any remedy. I am not a stenographer. I am not a potted plant. I am not going to be complicit in my own silencing and the silencing of so many who depend on people like me.”