Mona Eltahawy arrested for defacing NY subway poster

Former Reuters correspondent Mona Eltahawy was arrested, charged with criminal mischief and later released from police custody after defacing a controversial poster on the New York subway.

On Tuesday she sprayed pink paint over a widely condemned poster that read: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad”.

The American Freedom Defense Initiative paid for copies of the poster in 10 subway stations. New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority originally ruled that they were demeaning and would not be permitted in the city’s subways, but it allowed them after the anti-Muslim group took the agency to court. A federal judge ruled the statements are political and protected by the US Constitution’s first amendment on free speech.

Eltahawy, born in Egypt and now a US writer and activist, is due to return to court on 29 November to face misdemeanour charges.

The New York Post uploaded a video to YouTube showing the incident. It can be viewed here. ■