Almost 100 arrested as Jewish protesters rally at Trump Tower over Mahmoud Khalil immigration detention

Police arrested nearly 100 demonstrators at Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday as members of Jewish Voice for Peace protested the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate.

Wearing red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel,” the protesters filled the lobby of the Fifth Avenue skyscraper, chanting, “Bring Mahmoud home now!” After police warned them to leave, 98 were arrested on charges including trespassing, obstruction, and resisting arrest.

Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent US resident married to an American citizen, was detained outside his New York apartment Saturday and is now being held at an immigration facility in Louisiana. President Donald Trump called his arrest the first “of many to come,” vowing to deport students engaging in what he described as “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”

Demonstrators from the group, Jewish Voice for Peace, protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Among the protesters was actor Debra Winger, who accused the Trump administration of “co-opting antisemitism” and having “no interest in Jewish safety.”

“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. Does that sound like America to you?,” Winger told the Associated Press.

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Protesters also called Trump Tower a symbolic target, referencing the golden escalator he famously rode before launching his 2016 presidential bid.

Khalil’s arrest has sparked nationwide protests, with supporters calling it an attack on free speech. His legal team has also filed a lawsuit seeking to block a congressional committee from obtaining disciplinary records of Columbia and Barnard students involved in pro-Palestinian protests.

(With Inputs from Associated Press)