Mahmoud Khalil made headlines at Columbia University not for academic prowess but for his leadership organizing disruptive anti-Israel demonstrations on campus. As part of the Trump administration crackdown against antisemitism, Khalil was arrested on March 9, shortly after $400 million in federal grants to the university were frozen.

With his deportation temporarily on hold following a court injunction, Khalil is now speaking out, claiming innocence and portraying himself as a political prisoner targeted solely for his pro-Palestinian advocacy. In a letter dictated to his family on Tuesday, Khalil wrote: “My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”

According to his account, Department of Homeland Security agents apprehended Khalil as he returned from dinner with his wife, handcuffing him and forcing him into an unmarked car without providing a warrant. He spent that night sleeping on a cold floor at 26 Federal Plaza before being transferred to a facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he says he was denied a blanket despite requesting one. Khalil was eventually moved to a detention facility in Louisiana, where he remains in custody.

Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Khalil draws parallels between his current detention and what he calls Israel’s practice of “administrative detention” of Arabs in Gaza.

“I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor, but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear,” he writes. “For decades, anti-Palestinian racism has driven efforts to expand U.S. laws and practices that are used to violently repress Palestinians, Arab Americans, and other communities. That is precisely why I am being targeted.”

The 30-year-old ended by blaming Columbia’s leadership for his predicament and urged his fellow student agitators to continue protesting against Israel.

“In the weeks ahead, students, advocates, and elected officials must unite to defend the right to protest for Palestine. At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all.”