Pro-Palestinian Protestors Arrested In Trump Tower Lobby, Police Say

MIDTOWN, NY — Multiple demonstrators were arrested on Thursday afternoon inside Trump Tower, where they were protesting against the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and legal U.S. resident who was outspoken in the University's pro-Palestinian encampment protests last spring.

Thursday's demonstration, in the lobby of Trump Tower in Midtown, was led by Jewish Voice For Peace, and all protestors wore red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel" and holding signs that said "Free Mahmoud."

The New York City Police Department told Patch that the police on site made "multiple" arrests, after several protesters refused to leave the lobby, and have not released the total number of arrests yet, as of Thursday at 7 p.m. Charges against the protestors are pending, police said.

"Under the guise of fighting antisemitism, the Trump regime is using attacks on the movement for Palestinian freedom as an opening to dismantle civil liberties and the entire progressive movement. This is how fascism works. We refuse to be divided or silenced," Jewish Voice For Peace organizers said in a tweet.

Khalil, who was detained from his home in Morningside Heights on Saturday night in front of his pregnant wife, is the first arrest of "many to come" President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday.

"This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it," Trump wrote.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents said there had been orders to revoke his student visa, but when Khalil's attorney, Amy Greer, told them that Khalil was in the United States as a legal permanent resident with a green card, the ICE agent said they were revoking that instead, according to the Associated Press.

Khalil, who is Palestinian but was born in Syria after his grandparents were removed from their homeland, now appears to be held at a detention center in Louisiana, according to a detainee locator.

This is a developing story and may be updated. For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.