A statement by the Lebanese government claimed that the journalist had been live-streaming the protests for the "Israeli enemy newspaper." A State Security patrol managed to track and locate the journalist after seeing social media reports about the live-stream and arrested "an individual who had filmed the same footage that appeared on the enemy's newspapers' page."
The live video feed in question on Haaretz's Facebook account was a feed from the Reuters news agency.
The US citizen was identified as Nicholas A. who "claimed to be a freelance journalist." Nicholas was brought in for questioning. The New Arab identified him as Nicholas Frakes, a journalist who does not work for Reuters.
Frakes will be processed by military courts and it is unlikely that he will be provided with legal representation, according to The New Arab. Frakes was covering the protests for multiple media outlets, including The New Arab.
A source told The New Arab that Frakes was "at the wrong place, [at the] wrong time" and was "just taking photos." Frakes told the source that there was "someone with him" and that he just had to answer a couple of questions before being allowed to leave.
"Police officers have harassed, attacked, or detained journalists covering protests in Beirut" since January 14, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Unrest in the capital this week has deepened the multi-faceted crisis sweeping Lebanon as it grapples with financial strains that have sunk the currency, pushed up prices and driven banks to impose capital controls.
Politicians have failed to agree on a government or an economic rescue plan since the protests pushed Saad al-Hariri to quit as prime minister in October.
Reuters contributed to this report.