Mahmoud Khalil: Trump admin wants to 'make an example out of me'

Source: The Hill

07/12/25 3:18 PM ET


Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil said during a recent appearance on CNN that President Trump’s administration wanted use him as “an example” after he was detained for over three months.

“It‘s absurd. It‘s basically to intimidate me. They want to conflate any speech for the right of Palestinians with a speech that‘s supporting terrorism, which is totally wrong,” Khalil, a green card holder and former Columbia University student, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

Federal immigration agents arrested Khalil in early March and he was detained for over 100 days. Khalil was not charged with a crime and ended up being released last month. Khalil’s case was the first arrested in a push by the administration to crack down on foreign students protesting on college campuses against the Israel-Hamas war.

“The protests were peaceful. We‘re asking a simple ask to stop Columbia University and the U.S. complicity in the genocide that‘s happening in Gaza,” Khalil said. “And that‘s why I see these accusations as intimidation.” “This is what‘s happening or what happened to me and to others. And it‘s a message that they want to make an example out of me,” he added. “Even if you are a legal resident, even if you are a citizen, actually that we will find a way to come after you.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5398448-mahmoud-khalil-trump-administration-detention-example/