Protest at NYC’s Trump Tower in support of Mahmoud Khalil ends with 98 arrests, police say
Nearly 100 people were arrested Thursday after staging a sit-in at Trump Tower in New York City Thursday, the NYPD said.
It started at around 11:30 a.m. Thursday, police said.
According to police, roughly 150 people dressed in civilian clothes entered Trump Tower just before noon. Once inside, they removed their shirts to reveal red t-shirts with pro-Palestinian slogans on it and staged a sit-in.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
Video from inside the building shows a group went to the public area inside the building and then began chanting “Free Mahmoud,” a reference to pro-Palestinian Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the weekend. Additional video shows several of the protesters sitting in the lobby, clapping and chanting “Free Palestine.”
“Within 10 minutes, we started responding here from the police department. Within 40 minutes, 50 minutes, we started making arrests. We ended up making 98 arrests of people trespassing, obstructing governmental administration in this building,” NYPD Chief of Department John Chell said. “We secured this building, we secured this perimeter, and we removed people who were under arrest. I am very happy with the professionalism that we showed today. Quite frankly, there was no damaged property, no injuries, and we cleared this up within two hours – a big task for the NYPD.”
Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images
Protest organizers – the group Jewish Voice for Peace – said that actor Debra Winger is among those protesting.
“The NYPD, the city, since October 7th ’23, has handled over 5,000 protests. We’re the best in the business at what we do, and I think we demonstrated today what a professional organization we are and how well we do it,” Chell said.
Who is Mahmoud Khalil?
Khalil is a pro-Palestinian activist who was involved in demonstrations at Columbia University, where he was a grad student. His arrest by ICE agents in New York City on Saturday – and his subsequent transfer to Louisiana to be held pending a hearing on whether or not he can be deported – set off a high-profile legal battle and protests.