US Activist Mahmoud Khalil Released From Detention, Vows To Keep Protesting
Activist Mahmoud Khalil told reporters he would continue protesting against Israel's war in Gaza, as he reached New York following his release from three months detention at a immigration facility
The former Columbia University graduate student has become symbol of President Donald Trump 's clampdown on campus protests.
"The US government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide," he said to some supporters who greeted him at Newark Airport.
"This is why I will continue to protest with everyone of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention. Even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine."
Khalil is a legal US resident whose wife gave birth during his 104 days of detention. He said he would also continue to speak up for the immigrants he left behind in the detention center.
"Whether you are a citizen, an immigrant, anyone in this land, you're not illegal. That doesn't make you less of a human," he said.
AOC welcomes release
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York joined Khalil at the airport and said his detention violated the First Amendment and was "an affront to every American."
"He has been accused, baselessly, of horrific allegations simply because the Trump administration and our overall establishment disagrees with his political speech.
"The Trump administration knows that they are waging a losing legal battle. They are violating the law, and they know that they are violating the law."
This story was originally published on DW.
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