Progressive Politics

Yasin Elsamak, 22, and Ali Elsamak, 15, both U.S. citizens, were protesting the Egyptian government’s role in blockading the Rafah crossing into Gaza, cutting off essential food aid amid Israel’s ongoing genocide, their parents said.

Egyptian officials grabbed the teenager and dragged him and his older brother, who had attempted to intervene, inside the building, according to their parents and video of the incident published on social media. Their parents alleged that inside the building, Egyptian officials continued to beat Yasin in the legs with sticks before choking him with a chain and his own keffiyeh.

New York Police Department officers arrested the brothers on suspicion of assault but did not take any of the Egyptian government officials into custody, the family said.