Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and former Columbia University graduate student, was released from ICE detention in Jena, Louisiana, on June 20, 2025.
The rally happened outside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine which is near Columbia University, NBC News reported on Monday.
Khalil, who is a graduate of Columbia, was arrested in March after leading radical protests on the campus, per Breitbart News. The article noted President Donald Trump had previously promised to deport foreign students fomenting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel protests on campuses.
While addressing the crowd, Khalil said, “Mahmoud Khalil is a human rights defender. Mahmoud Khalil is a freedom fighter. Mahmoud Khalil is a refugee. Mahmoud Khalil is a father and husband. And, above all, Mahmoud Khalil is Palestinian.”
Video footage shows him leading the chant, “Free, free Palestine!” as the crowd joined him:
Mahmoud Khalil is again leading antisemitic chants outside of Columbia University now that he was wrongly freed by an activist judge.
Khalil is a radical jihadist. So is his gross wife. They both need to be deported along with their child.
NOW.pic.twitter.com/zkm0HqGj8K
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) June 22, 2025
A federal judge recently issued a ruling that Khalil be released from ICE custody. The Breitbart News report said U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, had “previously rejected Khalil’s request to be released from ICE custody, explaining that he had ‘not put forward factual evidence as to why it might be unlawful to detain him’ regarding the charge that he reportedly omitted information on his green card application.”
Video footage appears to show his arrival back in New York City after his release accompanied by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY):
Look who personally accompanied anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil back to NYC.
Yes. AOC. The rising star of the Democratic party.
This is who they are. pic.twitter.com/ISwqwafONL
— Shelley G (@ShelleyGldschmt) June 21, 2025
ALERT: Just DAYS after a federal judge orders the release of Mahmoud Khalil he throws an anti-Israel rally at Columbia.
Khalil is NOT a legal citizen yet a federal judge has granted him the position to continue spewing anti-American rhetoric. pic.twitter.com/W8pVxjuDoX
— Rep. Wesley Hunt Press Office (@RepWPH) June 23, 2025
(…) In early April, Emirati political analyst Dr. Salem Al-Ketbi warned that university campuses across the United States are now “targets for extremist organizations that exploit immigration laws to embed operatives, secure future U.S. citizenship, and cultivate a new generation of pro-terror activists — often under the radar,” per Breitbart News. (Read more: Breitbart News, 6/23/2025) (Archive)