Hundreds of protesters from Jewish Voice for Peace stormed Trump Tower’s lobby Thursday, chanting “Bring Mahmoud home now!” to demand the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate detained by ICE since Saturday.
Clad in red shirts emblazoned with “Jews say stop arming Israel” and “Not in Our Name,” they wielded banners proclaiming “Jews say Free Mahmoud & Free Palestine” and “Fight Nazis Not Students.”
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Police arrested dozens, zip-tying them after an hour-long standoff in the Fifth Avenue atrium.
The group, claiming over 300 participants—including rabbis, Holocaust survivors’ kin, and actress Debra Winger—condemned Khalil’s detention as a fascist overreach.
The Trump administration seeks to revoke Khalil’s green card, alleging he backs Hamas—a charge his supporters slam as a free speech assault. President Trump called him the first of “many” targeted “terrorist sympathizers.”
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Khalil’s arrest has sparked outrage, with protests flaring Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse where a federal judge temporarily blocked his deportation.
Thursday’s Trump Tower clash, attended by NYC Council member Alexa Aviles, underscores escalating tensions over his fate and U.S. policy toward pro-Palestinian activism.
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