Demonstrators from a Jewish group entered the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Thursday to protest the arrest of a former Columbia University student activist who led student protests at the university's Manhattan campus against Israel's war in Gaza.
Protesters from the organization 'Jewish Voice for Peace', who were wearing red T-shirts with the inscription "Jews say stop arming Israel" and holding banners that read "Opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition" and "Fight the Nazis, not the students", chanted "Bring Mahmoud home now!"
Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident of the United States, was arrested outside his New York apartment on Saturday and faces deportation. He is married to a US citizen and has not been charged with any crime.
President Donald Trump said Mr. Khalil's arrest was the first "of many more to come" and vowed on social media to expel students he said engage in "pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity."
Police, who were inside and outside the building on Manhattan's famous Fifth Avenue before the demonstration, began arresting protesters after warning them to leave.
Among the protesters was actress Debra Winger, who has spoken out about her Jewish faith and upbringing over the years. Winger accused the Trump administration of having “no interest in the safety of Jews.”
Mr. Khalil's supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have organized protests in New York and around the country.
Hundreds of people demonstrated on Wednesday in front of a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case.
Trump Tower serves as the headquarters for the Trump Organization and is where the president stays when he is in New York. Rallies are often held in front of it, both against and in support of him, although protests inside the building are less common.
Thirty-year-old Khalil is being held in an immigration detention center in Louisiana.
Columbia University campuses were focal points of the pro-Palestinian protest movement that swept across American universities last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests.
Mr. Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, completed his master's degree at Columbia in December. Born in Syria, he is the grandson of Palestinians who were forced to flee their homeland, his lawyers said in a filing filed in court. VOA (A2 Televizion)
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