Newly released video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detaining student activist Mahmoud Khalil undermines the agency’s justifications for arresting him without a warrant. President Donald Trump had previously touted the arrest as evidence his administration is fighting terrorism.
Left-leaning news outlet Zeteo on Monday published the Columbia University security video taken on March 8, which was acquired by Khalil’s legal team, and it shows the pro-Palestinian activist peacefully interacting with ICE agents as they arrested him.
The Department of Homeland Security had previously claimed in a court filing that Khalil was arrested without a warrant because agents believed he “was a flight risk,” which made the arrest necessary. The new video undermines that key claim.
Trump hailed the arrest of Khalil in a March 10 post to his Truth Social account.
“Following my previously signed Executive Orders, ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University,” Trump wrote. “We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country—never to return again.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also highlighted Khalil’s arrest in a March 9 post on X, writing, “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
The American Civil Liberties Union has described Khalil’s arrest as “unlawful” and “a frightening escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to silence speech of which they are critical.”
The organization also notes that the First Amendment protects speech, and that the federal government does not have the authority to deport people for speech it does not agree with. Trump and other Republicans have frequently voiced opposition to the Palestinian cause.
The Trump administration’s cases against pro-Palestinian advocates have continued to face setbacks.
In April, a federal judge ordered the release of student advocate Mohsen Mahdawi, who had been arrested under similar circumstances to Khalil. Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral student at Tufts University who was abducted by ICE in March, was released in May. The only apparent reason for Öztürk’s detention was an op-ed she wrote in a student newspaper advocating human rights for Palestinians.
The push to punish free speech has been led by Rubio, who, in an April interview, hypocritically criticized other nations for jailing people for voicing their opinions. Right now, the courts and lawyers are providing the most strident response to Rubio’s crusade, authorized by Trump, and they are winning.
Campaign Action
