Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters stormed the lobby of Trump Tower, calling for the release of pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil.
Khalil was arrested on Saturday after having his green card revoked and is in the process of being deported for his antisemitic, pro-terrorist views. The protesters who forced their way into Trump Tower are members of Jewish Voice for Peace, a radical-left Jewish group that opposes Israel's campaign to destroy Hamas. They are demanding that the U.S. stop sending arms to Israel.
Ninety-eight protesters were arrested, with 50 demonstrators led away in zip ties. The rest of the group was issued summonses.
“As Jews, we’re here today, mere hours before the holiday of Purim begins – a holiday where we honor Esther, who used her voice to speak out and demand that the king not commit genocide,” a woman who was live streaming the protest from the balcony said in the video. “Today, we are using her same courage to speak out.”
“I’m just standing up for my rights, and I’m standing up for Mahmoud Khalil, who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location,” actress Debra Winger told the Associated Press. “Does that sound like America to you?”
No, it doesn't. And thank God it didn't happen that way. Khalil was arrested, not "abducted." He was taken to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, not an "undisclosed location."
What "doesn't sound like America" is hysterical harpies like Winger wildly exaggerating an action that the courts are still adjudicating.
Police were seen loading arrested protesters into a big NYPD van while the remaining detained protesters were put in an MTA bus outside Trump Tower.
There were no injuries, no incidents and no damage to property damage, [NYPD Chief of Department John] Chell said. The protesters are charged with trespassing, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.
Chell said they entered Trump Tower in regular clothing with protest gear underneath shortly after noon.
The Jewish Voice for Peace said it helped organize the protest. The group’s X account says its aim is to organize Jews "toward Palestinian liberation and Judaism beyond Zionism."
Sophie Edelhart, who goes to school in Canada, said she claimed to be fighting the Nazis... or something. She said she doesn't want to “cede ground” to Trump and “fascism.”
Khalil and seven other students at Columbia filed a lawsuit on Thursday, trying to prevent Congress from taking a peek at their disciplinary records.
On Thursday, Khalil and seven students identified by pseudonyms filed a lawsuit seeking to block a Congressional committee from obtaining Columbia and Barnard College disciplinary records for students involved in campus protests.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan against the schools, the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce and its chairman, Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., seeks a permanent injunction barring Congress from forcing the schools to provide the records and the universities from complying with it.
The committee sent a letter last month demanding that Columbia and Barnard provide the records or risk billions of dollars in federal funding. The plaintiffs contend that the committee is abusing its power in an attempt “to chill and suppress speech and association based on the viewpoint expressed” and that its investigation “threatens to significantly infringe on First Amendment rights.”
Needless to say, the records have been requested because the committee is looking into antisemitism on college campuses. How Columbia deals with these students will determine whether any of the $400 million in grants will be given away.
Your favorite PJ Media writers are working hard to bring you the best opinions and news in the business. You should support us by becoming a VIP Member! We're giving you a 60% discount on the regular VIP Membership with the promo code "FIGHT." Click here to receive your discount.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member