A federal judge is ordering the liberation of the pro-Palestinian activist of Columbia University, Mahmoud Khalil.
The American district judge Michael Farbiarz indicated during an hearing on Friday that he will issue an order that requires Khalil to be released today.
He denied a government motion to remain in the ruling for seven days.
During the audience, Farbiar said that the government did not try to demonstrate that Khalil’s liberation would irreparably damage them in some way, and that Khalil represented a risk of escape.
“To which all that evidence is added is the lack of violence, the lack of destruction of the property, the lack of anything that can be characterized as incitement to violence,” said the judge on Khalil, who helped lead the protests of the Columbia camp against the war in Gaza during spring.
A Khalil lawyer, Alina Das, reaffirmed Khalil’s belief that he is being punished for a speech that should be protected by the first amendment.
“The last government actions confirm what we have alleged in this request all the time, that the detention of reprisals is the objective of the government, that the purpose of each step that the Government has given in this case has been to guarantee that Mr. Khalil remains locked up until he is deported as reprisal and punishment for his speech and point of view,” he said.
The student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen in a Pro-Palestine protest camp on the Campus of Columbia University in New York, on April 29, 2024.
TED Shaffrey/AP
The judge asked the parties to consult with a magistrate judge on any condition that will be attached to Khalil’s release on bail.
The ruling came at the same time as an immigration judge in Jena, Louisiana, denied Khalil’s asylum application and ordered him to remain detained, but Judge Farbiarz’s order replaces him.
Last week, Judge Farbiarz issued a preliminary judicial order that prohibits the Trump administration from continuing to Green letters.
Khalil, a green card holder who is married to an American citizen, has been arrested in an arrest center since he was arrested by ICE agents in New York City in March.
This is a development story. Consult the updates again.
