By Another one of Donald Trump’s properties has been attacked by radical leftwing activists. On Thursday, roughly 150 demonstrators staged a “sit-in” at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue on Thursday, demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student detained over the weekend on immigration-related charges. Organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, the protest highlighted what supporters describe as a politically motivated effort to suppress pro-Palestinian activism.
BREAKING: Terror supporters have violently taken over Trump Tower in NYC.
These people continue to break the law, and then expect for there to be no consequences. Arrest them all. pic.twitter.com/nhRmf6AfxH
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) March 13, 2025
Dressed in red and holding banners that read “Free Mahmoud, Free Palestine” and “Fight Nazis, Not Students,” protesters chanted slogans such as “Free, free Palestine.” The demonstration took place in the building’s lobby, a location of historical significance as the site where former President Donald Trump announced his 2016 presidential campaign, reported Fox News.
NYPD Chief of Department John Chell said there were 98 people arrested in two hours with no issues. All of the protesters have since been removed.
Police were seen loading arrested protesters into a big NYPD van while the remaining detained protesters were put in an MTA bus outside Trump Tower.
There were no injuries, no incidents and no damage to property damage, Chell said. The protesters are charged with trespassing, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.
Chell said they entered Trump Tower in regular clothing with protest gear underneath shortly after noon.
The protesters carried banners in support of Khalil, who was a leader of protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University, that said “Jews say Free Mahmoud & Free Palestine” and “Fight Nazis Not Students.”
“As Jews of conscience, we know our history and we know where this leads. This is what fascists do as they cement control. This moment requires all people of conscience to take bold action to resist state violence and repression. Free Mahmoud now,” Jane Hirschmann, a Jewish New Yorker whose grandfather and uncle were abducted by the Nazis during Hitler’s rise to power, said in a statement to ABC News.
This is the second Trump property that has been attacked by Pro-Palestine activists over the past week.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations announced it is filing a federal lawsuit on behalf of Khalil and other students against Columbia University and the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, challenging the committee’s request for thousands of student records.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian raised in Syria and a permanent U.S. resident, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last Saturday at his university-owned apartment in Manhattan. He served as one of the ringleaders of the violent protests against Israel over the past years, going so far as to be associated with violent calls to kill Jews who support the American ally.
There’s footage of Mahmoud Khalil engaging in criminal activity just last week, when he helped take over a Barnard College academic building that was then littered with terrorist propaganda.
Don’t let them gaslight you into silence pic.twitter.com/ThVReUokO2
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 10, 2025
Khalil’s attorneys contend his student visa and green card were revoked without warning. He remains in detention in Louisiana, with a federal judge temporarily blocking his deportation while his case is reviewed. Supporters argue that he is being punished for exercising his First Amendment rights, while Trump administration officials have labeled him a national security risk, citing allegations that he distributed pro-Hamas materials on Columbia’s campus.
The protest at Trump Tower is part of a broader wave of demonstrations across New York City in response to Khalil’s detention. His case has become a focal point in ongoing debates over free speech, immigration enforcement, and political dissent. Trump Tower, a 58-story skyscraper housing the Trump Organization’s headquarters and luxury residences, has frequently been the site of political demonstrations. Former President Trump, now a candidate for the 2024 election, has not commented on the protest.
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