Three people were charged on Monday with vandalizing The New York Times building in Midtown Manhattan in July, according to the criminal complaints.
The three, Alexa Wilkinson, 38, Anna Owens, 24, and Sarah Schaff, 30, were part of a group that poured red paint on the building on Eighth Avenue near 40th Street, according to the complaints.
The group wrote on one of the windows, “NYT Lies; Gaza dies,” and left leaflets outside the building that said “The New York Times is starving Gaza,” and that the newspaper “is an active accomplice in the ongoing genocide,” according to the court papers.
The damage cost about $107,600 to repair, including $71,857 in repairs to the facade, according to the complaints.
Ms. Owens and Ms. Schaff were arrested on Sunday, and charged by prosecutors on Monday with criminal mischief, according to the complaints and court records. Mx. Wilkinson, from Cold Spring, N.Y., was charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime.
On July 26, Mx. Wilkinson, the complaint said, first shared social media posts from the account @framed.unrest that included an excerpt from an opinion article in The Times asserting that Israel was not committing genocide in Gaza. Another, commenting on that excerpt, said, “They hanged newspaper editors at Nuremberg.”
Mx. Wilkinson, the complaint said, added their own voice, warning Joseph Kahn, the executive editor of The Times, with the words: “Looking at you.”
Four days later, prosecutors said, Mx. Wilkinson vandalized The Times building with Ms. Owens and Ms. Schaff. Then, on July 31, Mx. Wilkinson posted video of the vandalism under their own social media account, the complaint said. Mx. Wilkinson credited the user @framed.unrest with the footage.
Last month, on Aug. 29, the exterior of the Manhattan building where Mr. Kahn lives was also vandalized with red paint that covered the lamps, steps and facade, according to the complaint against Mx. Wilkinson and photographs of the residence.
On a sidewalk near the entrance, the words “Joe Kahn lies Gaza dies” were painted in bold, black letters, the photographs show. That incident is still under investigation, the complaint said.
Mx. Wilkinson, Ms. Owens and Ms. Schaff pleaded not guilty at their arraignments early Monday in Manhattan Criminal Court, according to court records. They are expected to appear back in court in November.
Mx. Wilkinson’s lawyers described them as a journalist, but did not name any publications for which Mx. Wilkinson works. Social media accounts linked to Mx. Wilkinson have been made private.
The Legal Aid Society, which represents Ms. Schaff and Mx. Wilkinson, said in a statement that Mx. Wilkinson “is a respected photojournalist with no criminal record. They did not participate in or encourage any unlawful activity, and the charge against them is wholly unfounded.”
“We remind the public that they are entitled to the presumption of innocence and are confident that once the facts are made known, it will be evident they were simply doing their job as a journalist,” the statement continued.
David C. Breschel, the court-appointed lawyer who represented Ms. Owens, declined to comment on the case before he had spoken with her.
Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesman for The Times, declined to comment on the arrests and charges Monday.
Last month, Mr. Stadtlander said, “People are free to disagree with The New York Times’s reporting, but vandalism and targeting of individuals and their families crosses a line and we will work with authorities to address it.”
Chelsia Rose Marcius is a criminal justice reporter for The Times, covering the New York Police Department.
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