NEW YORK (WABC) — Nearly 100 arrests were made at Trump Tower in Midtown after hundreds of Jewish New Yorkers and friends packed into the lobby to protest the arrest and detainment of Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil.
Video taken Thursday afternoon showed officers handcuffing some of the demonstrators associated with Jewish Voice for Peace — an organization that is critical of many of Israel’s policies regarding Palestinians.
There were at least 98 people arrested and they are facing charges of trespassing, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.
Police say the protesters came in two groups, including many who entered the public lobby area in civilian clothes, hiding their protest gear underneath.
The group also called out the Trump administration.
“He is misusing claims of antisemitism in order to try to divide and prevent people from coming together to stop his authoritarian takeover of our country and his destruction of our civil liberties,” said Jewish Voice for Peace communications director Sonya Meyerson-Knox.
The arrests and protests come as Columbia University is now facing a federal lawsuit following the arrest of pro-Palestinian activist Khalil.
Lauren Glassberg reports from Midtown.
The lawsuit, filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, claims the university illegally disclosed the records of thousands of students at the request of Congress.
Advocacy groups are suing the university and the House of Representatives, specifically the Committee on Education and Workforce. It’s all over the congressional request to disclose thousands of student records as part of an investigation into antisemitism on college campuses.
“This lawsuit challenges the House committee’s illegal efforts to get disciplinary records, but it also challenges Columbia University’s willingness to become an appendage of the government,” said CAIR’s Kadir Abbas.
It all comes just days after Khalil was arrested by ICE agents for his role in anti-Israel protests on campus. The Trump administration is accusing Khalil of inciting violence and aligning with Hamas — but he is not charged with any crime.
His green card has been revoked and he is being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana.
In a new petition seeking his immediate release, Khalil’s attorneys said his arrest was a “targeted, retaliatory detention and attempted removal of a student protestor because of his constitutionally protected speech.”
The lawyers argued Secretary of State Rubio determined Khalil’s presence in the United States would have potentially serious foreign policy consequences based on lawful activity, namely his participation in protests and his statements about Israel
“Neither Secretary Rubio nor any other government official has alleged that Mr. Khalil has committed any crime or, indeed, broken any law whatsoever,” the amended petition said.
“The Rubio Determination and the government’s subsequent actions, including its ongoing detention of Mr. Khalil in rural Louisiana, isolating him from his wife, community, and legal team, are plainly intended as retaliation and punishment for Mr. Khalil’s protected speech and intended to silence, or at the very least restrict and chill, his speech now and in the future, all in violation of the First Amendment.”
His lawyers conceded Khalil is “an outspoken student activist” who called Israel’s actions in Gaza “genocide” but said he has been “committed to peaceful protest.”
The petition claims the arrest violated Khalil’s First and Fifth Amendment rights and the Administrative Procedure Act.
His arrest has sparked protests across the city, all while the Trump administration has threatened more student arrests.
In fact, on Thursday night federal immigration agents showed up at an apartment on West 113th Street, near the Columbia University campus, looking for a woman, but she was not there, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
According to the sources, this is part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on individuals it has described as espousing the views of Hamas and threatening the safety of Jewish students.
Also on Thursday, Columbia University announced it has expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests last spring, and had temporarily revoked the diplomas of some students who have since graduated.
The university did not provide a breakdown of how many students were expelled, suspended or had their degree revoked.
ALSO READ | Judge sets expedited schedule for pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil after ICE arrest
Lauren Glassberg reports in Lower Manhattan.
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