Writer and activist Sam Husseini was forcibly removed Monday from the venue of the joint press conference between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, shortly before the press conference began.
Norman Solomon, the founder and director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, where Husseini has served as communications director for two decades, confirmed the news to TPM in an email.
“About your question on why he was removed from the room,” Solomon added, “You’d need to address that one to the people who caused him to be removed. As a journalist, I believe that journalists should endeavor to ask questions.”
The Nation confirmed to TPM earlier Monday that Husseini had received press credentials for the event from the magazine.
“Sam Husseini, communications director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, received press accreditation from The Nation to cover the summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki,” the Nation’s Caitlin Graf told TPM in an email.
“At a time when this administration consistently denigrates the media, we’re troubled by reports that he was forcibly removed from the press conference before the two leaders began to take questions. This is a developing situation that we will be following closely,” Graf added.
Husseini was holding a sign that read “Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty” at the time of his removal. “I want to ask a question about this issue” Husseini is heard saying in a recording of the incident.
Husseini said in a tweet hours after he was dragged out of the venue that he “just got out of detention.”
“I was held for a time by Finnish authorities at Presidential Palace and then manhandled and cuffed on hands and legs to detention facility,” he wrote. “They wouldn’t call my family to tell them I was unharmed.”
Just got out of detention. I was held for a time by Finnish authorities at Presidential Palace and then manhandled and cuffed on hands and legs to detention facility. They wouldn’t call my family to tell them I was unharmed. Thanks for well wishes from many good folks. More soon. https://t.co/bEke39ZVb4
— Sam Husseini (@samhusseini) July 16, 2018
We have an incident. #TrumpPutinSummit #Helsinki2018 pic.twitter.com/ftOMfGipzH
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) July 16, 2018
WATCH — journalist Sam Husseini forcibly removed by secret service before the start of the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki pic.twitter.com/dkuqtfqLRt
— J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) July 16, 2018
Man escorted out of Trump-Putin presser appeared to be holding a sign saying "Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty" pic.twitter.com/XlGSpyhIoi
— Peter Stevenson (@PeterWStevenson) July 16, 2018
This post has been updated.
Too bad he didn’t have a sign that said, “Impeach Trump and Putin”
Well, maybe not for ‘Everybody’.