This past Thursday, a group of demonstrators gathered at Washington, D.C.’s Elijah Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse to advocate for the freedom of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, pushing back against what they consider an attack on free speech.
Organized by the activist group Refuse Fascism, the protestors rallied in the district the morning of Khalil’s hearing, which was held in a federal court in Newark, New Jersey before Judge Michael E. Farbiarz. Immigration officers arrested the Columbia student and prominent Palestinian activist earlier this month for what they say is his role in fomenting violence on the New York school’s campus last year.
Khalil and his lawyer say all he was doing was protesting Israel’s attacks in Gaza.
“This dragnet the Trump administration has started with Khalil, it can very easily morph into a much larger attack on free speech against other ethnic groups,” said Ann Wright, a retried U.S. colonel and diplomat.
Columbia student Yunseo Chung and Cornell University student Momodou Taal joined Khalil in suing the Trump administration over their arrests tied to pro-Palestinian protests.
