Hundreds of protesters from Students for Justice in Palestine chapters across New York City joined NYU students in Washington Square Park on Tuesday to condemn the Saturday detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and leading pro-Palestinian activist. 

The demonstration started in Garibaldi Plaza with speeches from an NYU professor and student addressing Khalil, who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement despite being a legal permanent resident. The detainment comes amid President Donald Trump’s threats to deport international students who have engaged in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. 

“Anyone in the legal profession knows that that kind of arrest is flagrantly illegal and unconstitutional,” said an NYU professor and member of Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine, who requested to remain anonymous due to safety concerns. “If the Trump administration for one second is allowed to get away with it, then there’s really nothing that can stop the officers of the state from doing anything with any of us.” 

From the park, around 1,000 protesters marched down MacDougal Street chanting “Free Mahmoud Khalil now” and “No compliance with Trump’s violence,” and holding signs reading “FREE MAHMOUD” and “RELEASE MAHMOUD NOW.” They proceeded south on Varick Street, before heading east toward City Hall — where New York City Police Department officers arrested at least 20 protesters for obstructing traffic after suddenly instructing them to get out of the street. 

SJP chapters from Columbia, The New School and Pace University took part in the march, which was advertised as a national walkout in protest of Khalil’s detainment. On Tuesday morning, NYU sent a Campus Advisory email informing students that there would be increased Campus Safety presence and closures of Schwartz Plaza and the Greene Street walkway — two frequent spots for demonstrations — “amidst public calls on social media nationally urging protests to engage in take-overs of central campus spaces.”

An NYU spokesperson did not respond to further requests regarding the security changes.

Ahead of the spring semester, NYU leadership suspended at least 16 students for staging a pro-Palestinian sit-in on the top floor of Bobst Library, where President Linda Mills and other top administrators work. Most recently, approximately 30 members of NYU’s chapter of Law Students for Justice in Palestine were barred from most university buildings after holding a similar sit-in, calling for the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel, shut down its study away site in Tel Aviv and agree to protect international students from ICE. 

Khalil is currently detained at an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, with ongoing legal proceedings in New York City. On Monday, a Manhattan judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to not deport Khalil until a court can hear his case, and a hearing is set for Wednesday. Last month, a graduate student at NYU allegedly faced threats of deportation after they were suspended for the December sit-in in Bobst.

“It’s a fundamental attack on not just the Palestine movement, but all of our fundamental rights through free speech and our right to protest,” Ebtesham Ahmed, president of NYU’s Students for a Democratic Society, told WSN. “It’s a worrying trend of increased repression of political movements in this country, especially as Trump continues to attack more and more marginalized communities.”

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced that Trump’s Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism will investigate 10 universities, including NYU, for compliance with federal laws regarding Title VI. Since then, the government withdrew approximately $400 million in Columbia’s funding and has launched investigations into two University of California schools.

Contact Alex Woodworth and Amelia Hernandez Gioia at [email protected].