Columbia protest leader Mohsen Mahdawi freed from US custody
A U.S. judge has ordered the release of Columbia University student and pro-Palestine protester Mohsen Mahdawi while his deportation case is underway.
In Burlington, Vermont, on Wednesday, US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ruled Mahdawi could leave the Northwest State Correctional Facility, where he had been held since immigration officials arrested him earlier this month, News.Az reports citing Al Jazeera.
Mahdawi walked out of the court with both hands in the air, flashing peace signs as supporters greeted him with cheers.
As he spoke, he shared a message for President Donald Trump, whose administration has led a crackdown on student protesters who have denounced Israel’s war in Gaza.
“I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said to Trump. He also addressed the people of Palestine and sought to dispel perceptions that the student protest movement was anything but peaceful.
“We are pro-peace and antiwar,” Mahdawi explained. “To my people in Palestine: I feel your pain, I see your suffering, and I see freedom, and it is very soon.”
Mahdawi, a legal US resident who had been a leader in the protests at Columbia University, was detained on April 14 while attending a citizenship interview. Video of him being led away in handcuffs spread widely across social media.
His arrest came as part of a wider push by the Trump administration to target visa holders and permanent residents for their pro-Palestine advocacy. Trump has also pressured top universities to crack down on pro-Palestine protests, in the name of combating anti-Semitism.
Critics, however, say that rationale is an excuse to exert greater control over academia and stifle opposing views.
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