Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil said during a recent appearance on CNN that President Trump’s administration wanted use him as “an example” after he was detained for over three months.
“It‘s absurd. It‘s basically to intimidate me. They want to conflate any speech for the right of Palestinians with a speech that‘s supporting terrorism, which is totally wrong,” Khalil, a green card holder and former Columbia University student, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
Federal immigration agents arrested Khalil in early March and he was detained for over 100 days. Khalil was not charged with a crime and ended up being released last month. Khalil’s case was the first arrested in a push by the administration to crack down on foreign students protesting on college campuses against the Israel-Hamas war.
“The protests were peaceful. We‘re asking a simple ask to stop Columbia University and the U.S. complicity in the genocide that‘s happening in Gaza,” Khalil said. “And that‘s why I see these accusations as intimidation.”
“This is what‘s happening or what happened to me and to others. And it‘s a message that they want to make an example out of me,” he added. “Even if you are a legal resident, even if you are a citizen, actually that we will find a way to come after you.”
Khalil‘s lawyers filed a claim on Thursday for $20 million in damages against the administration, contending that the Palestinian activist faced political retaliation for his activism.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Axios that Khali has “consistently engaged in conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests.”
During the Friday interview, Khalil detailed his experience while in custody in Louisiana.
“I was shackled all the time. And my ankles as well. It felt like I was criminal. I did not know what charges they have against me. And, by the time I arrived in Louisiana, my leg was, was fully swollen, and I couldn’t walk to enter the detention center,” he said on Friday.
“So it was very, very dehumanizing experience, for someone who was not accused of any crime, whatsoever,” he continued.
Khalil said being denied temporary release to see his son, who was born this spring, was the “most difficult moment in my life,” adding that it “could have been avoided.”
“And it’s a combination of anger and happiness. I was happy that I’m finally holding him in my hands, but at the same time angry at the system that deprives people from such important moments in their lives,” he said.
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