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Emergency Protest to Respond to the Detention of Mahmoud Khalil
March 11 @ 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Emergency protest to respond to the detention of Mahmoud Khalil and attacks on non-citizen Palestine activists at U.S. universities
Tuesday, March 11 at 5 pm
Minneapolis Federal Building, 300 S 4th Street, Minneapolis
On the evening of March 8, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security detained Palestinian Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil. This was the first detention after Trump ordered the State Department to deport students affiliated with pro-Palestine activism. Khalil is a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. (Green card holder) and his arrest is an unlawful violation of freedom of speech and immigration laws. Trump’s Executive Order 13899 requires “the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with each other […] report activities by alien students and staff relevant to those grounds and for ensuring that such reports about aliens lead, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to investigations and, if warranted, actions to remove such aliens.”
On February 28, The Department of Justice announced that a Federal Task Force to “Combat Antisemitism” would visit ten college campuses that “experienced incidents of antisemitism.” Trump’s administration conflates antisemitism with anti-zionism and criminalizes students, staff, and faculty who have protested a deadly genocide that in 16 months killed over 62,000 people in Gaza. This is a Title VI violation and discrimination against Muslim, Palestinian, and Middle Eastern students, faculty, and staff. Columbia University and University of Minnesota are among campuses under investigation.
Meredith Aby, an organizer with the MN Anti-War Committee explains, “Columbia University has repeatedly targeted Khalil for his Palestinian identity and activism. He was a lead negotiator during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment last spring and has been outspoken against the genocide. Similarly, UMN has criminalized student protesters with arrests and suspensions and fired and unhired faculty and staff for opposing the genocide in Gaza. We are concerned that UMN will follow suit and submit information to allow the detention of MN students, faculty, and staff for participating in protests. The racist targeting of Khalil aims to instill fear in pro-Palestine activists as well as a warning to others at all university campuses. We are organizing this protest to show community support for the pro-Palestine student movement.”
Aby continued, “ We are joining with the national call for March 11th to say NO to the McCarthyesque witch-hunt at our universities and to condemn the weaponization of antisemitism to justify anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian racism. Free Mahmoud Khalil Now!”
The protest is organized by the MN Anti-War Committee, UMN Educators for Justice in Palestine, UMN Students for a Democratic Society, UMN Students for Justice in Palestine, Minnesota Immigration Rights Action Committee, and Jewish Voice for Peace.