The 30-year-old, a recent Columbia University graduate and U.S. permanent resident, remained in custody until June 20, when a federal judge ordered his release on bail.
At Columbia University, a group that calls itself 'Unity Fields' posted a photograph of the coffins of fallen US soldiers, captioning it: 'Soon, Inshallah,' which means 'God willing' in Arabic.
Khalil’s legal team argued that his continued detention was causing 'irreparable harm' to his academic career, personal life, and constitutional right to free speech.
The mask ban, along with other policy changes beefing up disciplinary actions over illegal protests, also comes as a crucial blow to Columbia’s antisemitic groups.
A Columbia student union group is pushing to make the university campus a patrol-free zone, effectively giving anti-Israel protesters free rein to intimidate and harass Jewish students. When does it end?
Mahmoud Khalil has been arrested by ICE agents and faces deportation for supporting Hamas and intimidating Jews during campus protests and encampments that raged last year following the October 7th massacre in Israel.
President Trump cut over $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University, condemning its weak response to rampant antisemitism on campus since the horrific Hamas attacks on October 7th.
Columbia’s 'apparent failure' to protect Jewish students 'raises very serious questions about the institution’s fitness to continue doing business with the United States government,' said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
'The fact is that October 7 changed the world … we saw the potential of a future for Palestine liberated from Zionism,' Samidoun's Charlotte Kates told Columbia students.
Covering their faces with keffiyehs, they barged into a class on modern Israel, distributing flyers calling to 'Crush Zionism' and 'Burn Zionism to the Ground.'
As Columbia University students returned for first day of classes, dozens of keffiyeh-clad protesters blocked the entrance to campus, praising Hamas, vandalizing a statue, and clashing with police.
'When your identity is known, the appeal of threatening or intimidating people significantly decreases,' said Gerard Filitti, a senior counsel at the Lawfare Project.
Chairwoman of US House committee investigating university's handling of antisemitic incidents following Oct. 7 says 'university administrators have slow rolled the investigation, repeatedly failing to turn over necessary documents.'
Documents shared by US House committee find the university punished very few students involved in occupying an administrative building and staging a riot.
A delegation of 25 Columbia University faculty, staff, and New York City doctors recently traveled to Israel to discuss the aftermath of the October 7th massacre.
'I am no longer confident that Columbia can protect its students and staff and I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken.'