TOO BAD THEY DIDN'T SHIP HIS ASS OFF TO EL SALVADOR

Palestinian Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi freed from ICE custody on judge’s orders, immediately sends message to Trump

“I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said outside the Vermont courtroom.

 

 

By Ronny Reyes

 

New York Post

Apr 30, 2025

 

Mohsen Mahdawi greets supporters outside the federal courthouse in Burlington after a judge ordered his release from detention on April 30, 2025. 

 

The Palestinian Columbia University student who was arrested by ICE after leading anti-Israel protests on campus was set free on Wednesday by a judge who said he wasn’t a risk to the public.

Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, was released from custody following an order from US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford, with the defiant protester sending a message to President Trump and his administration immediately after his release.

The judge said that he did not believe Mahdawi posed any risk to the public, nor was he a flight risk, WPTZ reported. 

 

Mahdawi speaks outside the courthouse after a judge released him in Burlington, Vt. 

People gather outside the Post Office in Brattleboro with signs to show support for Mahdawi. 

 

Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident for 10 years, was arrested on April 14 during an interview about finalizing his US citizenship.

“I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said outside the Vermont courtroom.

 

US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered Mahdawi’s release.

 

The government argued that Mahdawi’s detention at the Northwest State Correctional Facility, in St. Albans, was a “constitutionally valid aspect of the deportation process.”

The State Department insisted the West Bank-born Mahdawi is removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio claiming the protester’s presence and activities “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.”

 

Mohsen Mahdawi, left, and Mahmoud Khalil participate in a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University in October 2023.

 

The State Department ultimately accused Mahdawi of engaging in “threatening rhetoric and intimidation” against Jewish students during the protests at Columbia. 

Mahdawi’s legal team, however, maintains that the protester was detained in retaliation for leading disruptive anti-Israel protests on Columbia’s campus. 

Crawford also compared the recent period of mass migrant detainment to the era of McCarthyism and the “Red Scare” of the 1950s.   

 

Mahdawi was accused of engaging in “threatening rhetoric and intimidation” against Jewish students during the protests at Columbia. 

Under the judges’ orders, Mahdawi will be allowed to keep his permanent residence status in Vermont, will be allowed to return to New York City, attend school and graduate from Columbia. 

Mahdawi was co-president of the now-suspended Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which helped lead the protests on campus against the Gaza war. 

Following his release, Mahdawi led chants outside the Vermont courthouse to “Free Palestine,” as he called on people to defend free speech. 

“Never give up on the idea that justice will prevail,” he told his supporters. “We want to stand up for humanity, because the rest of the world — not only Palestine — is watching us. And what is going to happen in America is going to affect the rest of the world.”