98 Protesters Arrested After Occupying Trump Tower to Demand Release of Pro-Palestinian Activist

The protesters were affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as a progressive Jewish anti-Zionist group.

Police arrested 98 protesters on March 13 after they occupied the lobby of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, staging a loud demonstration in support of Palestine and against the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist who led protests at Columbia University condemning Israel’s military response to the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) repeatedly ordered demonstrators to leave before officers moved in, arresting 98 individuals on charges including trespassing, obstruction, and resisting arrest, according to a police briefing.

The protesters were affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as a progressive Jewish anti-Zionist group. “As Jews, we are taking over Trump Tower to register our mass refusal,” the organization said in a statement. “We will not stand by as this fascist regime criminalizes Palestinians and those calling for an end to the Israeli government’s U.S.-funded genocide.”

Wearing red shirts that read “Stop Arming Israel” and “Not In Our Name,” demonstrators carried banners with slogans such as “Free Mahmoud, Free Palestine” and “Fight Nazis, Not Students.”

Footage posted on social media by Jewish Voice for Peace showed protesters chanting and clapping as officers systematically removed them from the building.

Videos from outside Trump Tower showed the detained protesters being loaded onto waiting buses while other demonstrators remained on the sidewalk, chanting, “Free Mahmoud!”

Kaz Daughtry, New York’s deputy mayor for public safety and a former NYPD official, stated that no injuries were reported but added that the city will review its procedures to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.

Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent U.S. resident who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation. He is being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana. A judge has determined that the Trump administration cannot yet deport Khalil.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Khalil was detained under President Donald Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, citing Khalil’s leadership in activities allegedly aligned with Hamas, the terrorist organization behind the bloody Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israeli communities.

Following the Hamas attack and subsequent Israeli military operations in Gaza, student-led protests erupted across U.S. college campuses, including Columbia. Last spring, pro-Palestinian activists staged a prolonged encampment and occupied a campus building.

Trump, in a social media post, called Khalil’s arrest “the first of many to come” and vowed to deport students engaged in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”

New York police arrest a demonstrator from the group Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested inside Trump Tower in support of Mahmoud Khalil, in New York, on March 13, 2025. Yuki Iwamura / AP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinforced the administration’s stance, stating on X that the government “will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

Khalil’s detention has drawn condemnation from civil rights organizations and congressional Democrats, who argue his arrest is an attack on free speech. Protests have erupted across New York and the country, including a large demonstration outside a Manhattan courthouse during a hearing on his case Wednesday.

Trump Tower, the Trump Organization headquarters and the president’s residence when in New York, has long been a site for political demonstrations. While protests frequently occur outside the skyscraper, large-scale sit-ins inside the building are rare.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House and the Trump Organization for comment on the demonstration.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.