Around 100 people were arrested in the United States after they gathered at the Trump Tower in Manhattan on Thursday to protest against the arrest of Palestinian activist and Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil.
Khalil was detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
The protest was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace and started shortly after noon with demonstrators wearing red shirts that read “Not in our Name” and “Jews Say Stop Arming Israel” as they thronged the Tower’s iconic golden lobby.
The protesters shouted “Free Mahmoud Khalil” and unfurled banners which said “Never Again for Anyone” and “Jews Say Do Not Comply,” CNN reported.
According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), as many as 98 protestors were later arrested and 50 were taken from the lobby in zip ties and placed into police vehicles. The police also said that no injuries or property damage were reported during the demonstartions.
#WATCH | US: Protestors gathered outside Trump Tower in Manhattan to demonstrate against the detention of Palestinian activist and Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil.
(Video source- Reuters) pic.twitter.com/bC8y54PxbH
— ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2025
As NYPD police moved in to arrest the demonstrators, they sat together and began shouting slogans like “Free Palestine” and “the whole world is watching,” CNN reported.
As per the report, the protest was live-streamed by an organiser from the balcony overlooking the Trump Tower atrium. In the video, a woman could be heard saying, “As Jews, we’re here today, mere hours before the holiday of Purim begins a holiday where we honour Esther who used her voice to speak out and demand that the king not commit genocide.” She said, “Today, we are using her same courage to speak out.”
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Trump Says Khalil’s Arrest ‘First Of Many To Come’
The protest comes after Khalil was arrested from his New York home after the Trump administration cancelled his green card.
Trump welcomed the Khalil’s arrest and said that his administration would detaim and deport the “terrorist sympathisers” from the US “never to return again.” He also asserted that the Columbia University student’s arrest was the “first arrest of many to come.”
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student reportedly led the pro-Palestinian protests on the campus. His arrest also came at a time when the university claims to have expelled, suspended, or temporarily revoked the degrees of students who barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall in April 2024, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Khalil’s attorney has said the US government “retaliated” against her client “for speaking up in defence of Palestinians”, adding that he has been detained for exercising his right to free speech.
“Following my previously signed Executive Orders, ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University. This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump had said in a post on Truth Social after Khalil’s arrest.
“Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here. We expect every one of America’s Colleges and Universities to comply. Thank you,” he added.
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