Trump vows anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil was 'first arrest of many to come' - MyJoy247
Trump vows anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil was 'first arrest of many to come'
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Monday to address the ICE apprehension of Mahmoud Khalil, whom he called âa Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University.â
âThis 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,â Trump said in a post. âMany are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country â never to return again.â
The president went on to say that many protesting Khalilâs arrest at universities are not students, but rather âpaid agitators.â
Monday afternoon, a handful of protesters gathered outside the entrance to Columbia University in New York City, chanting âfree Mahmoud Khalilâ and âcops and ICE off campus.â They had a sign bearing the social media handle for The Revcoms, a self-described group of ârevolutionary communists.â
âIf you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here,â Trumpâs post continued. âWe expect every one of Americaâs Colleges and Universities to comply.â
Students claim Khalil was a leader of protests and encampments on the Columbia University campus for months. He was taken into custody at his university-owned apartment on Manhattanâs Upper West Side on Saturday.
ICE agents told Khalil that they were acting on a State Department order to revoke his green card and student visa, according to Khalilâs attorney, Amy E. Greer. She released a statement alleging that ICE agents wrongfully arrested Khalil.
âLast night ICE agents wrongfully arrested Mahmoud Khalil, claiming his student visa was revoked â even though Mahmoud is legal permanent resident (green card) and not in the U.S. on a student visa,â Greer said. âConfronted with that fact, the ICE agents detained him anyway.â