OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
1:28 PM – Thursday, March 13, 2025
To protest the arrest of Syrian green card-holder Mahmoud Khalil, who is said to be the ringleader of the Columbia University anti-Israel and pro-Palestine protests — a large group of demonstrators poured into the dining area of Trump Tower on Thursday.
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However, they were taken into custody as soon as police officers arrived.
Officers could be seen handcuffing the unruly protesters with zip ties and forcefully leading them into police vans.
Over 100 people from the Jewish pro-Palestine organization “Jewish Voice for Peace” are seen on video wearing red shirts with the slogan “Jews Say Stop Arming Israel,” as they gathered outside the Trump Grill restaurant.
At around 12:30 p.m., NYPD finally arrived on the scene and began snatching up and removing the protesters, who were caught on camera being marched away in zip ties.
Although they did not provide a precise number, NYPD spokespersons stated that multiple people had been arrested. Well before 1 p.m., the area around Trump Tower appeared to be largely cleaned out.
The group could be seen holding signs that read, “Fight Nazis not students,” “No Muslim Ban Ever,” and “Jews for Palestinian Freedom” before the gathering was dispersed.
“We are saying if you come for one of us, you face us all,” an angry protester yelled on the group’s live X feed.
“As Jews, we refuse to be the scapegoats of fascism,” she continued. “We aren’t leaving, and we call on all people of consciousness to join us and refuse to comply with Trump’s regime’s attacks.”
“Colleges and universities must stop complying in advance,” the anti-Israel protester added. “Columbia and every other university must start taking active measures to protect their students. We call for all universities to protect freedom of speech, collective protest and to defend their students.”
The most recent gathering also follows the influx of protesters and rioters demanding Khalil’s release in Lower Manhattan earlier this week.
President Donald Trump’s administration’s federal immigration agents detained Khalil on Saturday in New York City, making him the face of a crackdown on antisemitism by foreign nationals on college campuses.
Khalil’s green card could be withdrawn since he leads a radical organization called Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which advocates for the “end of Western civilization,” the same messaging that Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists preach to their supporters. The group also has ties to both terrorist groups, according to The Post.
“We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization,” CUAD said in an Instagram post, that has now been deleted.
An attempt to deport Khalil was temporarily halted by a judge on Monday.
Khalil, 29, has Palestinian parents and he was born and raised in Syria. In 2022, he traveled to the United States on a student visa to attend Columbia for his graduate studies. The next year, in 2023, Khalil wed his U.S. citizen bride. He obtained a green card last year, according to AP News.
Social media users took to X to express their thoughts on the recent chaos, including Georgia GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG).
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