ArbitraryValue , 13 hours ago

The charges are not for filming; they’re for accompanying the protesters as they engaged in vandalism. According to the AP:

According to a criminal complaint written by a police detective, Seligson, 31, traveled with the group of vandals as they defaced the facades of two apartments belonging to the museum’s director and president.

Seligson’s attorney, Leena Widdi, said her client was acting in his capacity as a credentialed member of the media, describing the hate crime charges as an “appalling” overreach by police and prosecutors.

While the complaint described Seligson as a participant in the crime, a law enforcement official said he was not directly involved in the spray-painting or property damage.

Videotaping a crime doesn’t automatically absolve someone of guilt. Whether or not he’s guilty in this particular case depends on facts not present in the article. My guess is that the cops have evidence that he planned the vandalism (and his role in documenting it) together with the people who actually carried it out.