Arrests at Trump Tower as Mahmoud Khalil demonstrations continue

Demonstrators have flooded the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City, in a show of solidarity with student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident of the United States.

Thursday’s protest is the latest in a string of demonstrations after immigration authorities arrested Khalil on Saturday evening.

The administration of President Donald Trump has said it intends to deport Khalil, who is Palestinian and married to a US citizen, over his role in pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University.

Khalil’s lawyers and supporters, however, believe the Trump administration is wilfully conflating criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza with support for “terrorism”. The arrest has been roundly condemned by civil liberty groups, who have called Khalil a “political prisoner”.

The leaders of Thursday’s demonstration said they chose Trump Tower to send a message to the president. The high-rise houses both the Trump Organization and Trump’s personal New York residence.

“As Jews, we are taking over the Trump Tower to register our mass refusal,” Jewish Voice for Peace, which organised the protest, wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

“We will not stand by as this fascist regime attempts to criminalise Palestinians and all those calling for an end to the Israeli government’s US-funded genocide of the Palestinian people. And we will never stop fighting for a free Palestine.”

Among the protesters was actress Deborah Winger, who told The Associated Press news agency she was “standing up for my rights”.

“I’m standing up for Mahmoud Khalil, who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location,” she added. “Does that sound like America to you?”