Protesters gather at Trump tower to support Mahmoud Khalil, shout slogans ‘Stop Arming Israel’, 98 held - Key updates

As protesters gathered at New York's Trump Tower on Thursday in support of detained Palestinian student campaigner Mahmoud Khalil, police said they had arrested nearly 100 people who flocked the Manhattan building.

Protesters gathered at the Trump Tower in Manhattan on behalf of Jewish Voice for Peace, voicing against the Donald Trump administration's arrest of Khalil. They also voiced support for Palestinians in general.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained Khalil over his involvement in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University.

Police said they arrested 98 people on Thursday for crimes including trespassing, news agency AFP reported. The New York Police Department said that 50 protestors were led from the lobby in zip ties and placed into awaiting police vehicles. No injuries or property damage were reported, it added.

Pro-Palestine protest at Trump Tower

Demonstrators, wearing red shirts with slogans such as “Not in our Name” and “Jews Say Stop Arming Israel” stormed into the Trump Tower's iconic golden lobby.

President Donald Trump's family business has its headquarters and he has a personal residence at the Trump Tower in New York.

AFP reported that the protesters seemingly caught security and police “off guard” to enter the building as they chanted slogans like “fight Nazis, not students,” and “free Mahmoud Khalil”.

They unfurled banners that read “Never Again for Anyone” and “Jews Say Do Not Comply,” reported CNN.

Mahmoud Khalil's arrest

Days after Khalil's arrest, the Trump administration cancelled his green card.

President Donald Trump welcomed the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, who led the pro-Palestinian protests on the campus, asserting that it is the “first arrest of many to come.”

“Following my previously signed Executive Orders, ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University. This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country -- never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here. We expect every one of America's Colleges and Universities to comply. Thank you,” he added.

Columbia University takes action

Meanwhile, the Columbia University administration announced they had issued “multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions” of students who had occupied a campus building last year during demonstrations against Israel's war in Gaza.

This came after the Trump administration stopped $400 million in grants to the school, accusing it of inaction during ‘anti-Semitic’ protests on its campus.