Tensions erupted in lower Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon as demonstrators clashed with police while protesting the detention of former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.

So who exactly is Mahmoud Khalil?

Khalil is a roughly 30-year-old former Columbia graduate student. In the words of The New York Times, Khalil is “The Public Face of Protest Against Israel” at Columbia.

He has acted as a spokesman for an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas student group… pic.twitter.com/owvhiedFEZ

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 11, 2025

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NYPD officers arrested about a dozen protesters after they blocked a busy street, defying repeated warnings to disperse.

The protest, which began with a march from Washington Square Park to Federal Plaza Immigration Court, escalated when demonstrators attempted to enter City Hall Park.

BREAKING: NYU students and professors leave class to flood Manhattan in support of violent Syrian National Mahmoud Khalil.

Multiple open displays of Hamas, while there are zero American flags. These people have no place in the West. pic.twitter.com/0N8fTpMpOO

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) March 11, 2025

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Officers intervened, barring them from the area and leading to confrontations.

Despite multiple warnings from law enforcement, protesters refused to leave the roadway.

The NYPD issued announcements through loudspeakers, cautioning that those who remained in the street would face disorderly conduct charges.

When demonstrators continued to block traffic, officers moved in to make arrests.

During one arrest, a protester wearing a keffiyeh was tackled to the ground by officers.

Others chanted anti-police slogans, including, “Move cops, get out the way, we know you’re Israeli trained,” and, “Oink, oink, piggy, piggy. We’re gonna make your lives s–tty.”

By Tuesday evening, the NYPD reported that one individual was charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration, while 11 others received summonses.

Khalil was taken into custody by federal authorities on Saturday and now faces possible deportation.

The White House said Tuesday that his detention was due to promoting “pro-Hamas” rhetoric.

The case has intensified scrutiny of anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University, where protests have frequently erupted over the past year and a half.

President Donald Trump has vowed to remove foreign nationals from U.S. campuses who promote antisemitic views, stating that his administration will not tolerate the spread of extremist ideology within American institutions.

On Tuesday, protesters gathered at Washington Square Park before marching through Manhattan, at times stopping traffic while chanting, “There is only one solution, intifada revolution.”

While the guy in the Black Panther Party t-shirt rambles about rights in America, the mob in Washington Square Park is chanting, “Globalize the intifada” and “There is only one solution: intifada revolution.”

This is a call for violence against Jews.

📹: @ScooterCasterNY… pic.twitter.com/XivFx5Iwjx

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) March 11, 2025

The demonstration grew from about 350 participants to approximately 500 as it moved toward the federal courthouse.

As the crowd neared City Hall Park, police blocked the marchers from entering, instructing them to keep moving.

The confrontation led to heightened tensions, resulting in additional arrests.

Amid the protest, an altercation broke out between a demonstrator and a bystander.

A woman identified as Anastacia Symone, 30, claimed that a man grabbed a young protester by the throat and attempted to hit him. The man was taken into custody by police.

Some onlookers expressed skepticism about the demonstrators’ motives.

Andrea Benatar, a tourist from Texas, questioned why so many protesters covered their faces.

“They’re embarrassed to show who they really are,” Benatar, 44, said.

“If they’re so proud of freeing Palestine, why not show their faces? I’d like them to go and live in Gaza. They clearly have no sympathy for the Jewish people in Israel, including children, who were murdered and kidnapped.”

Symone defended Khalil, claiming he was unfairly targeted.

“I’m here to call for the release of Mahmoud Khalil. He was at home with his family when he was criminalized for expressing his freedom of speech,” she said.

Protesters described Khalil as a “cornerstone in our community,” arguing that his arrest was an attempt to weaken their movement.

“The Trump administration and the complicit Columbia University believe if they separate us from this key cornerstone of our community, our movement will begin to crumble,” demonstrators shouted.

Khalil, who holds a green card, is married to a U.S. citizen who is currently pregnant.

His legal team has accused the federal government of trying to suppress free speech and discriminate against specific political viewpoints.

Khalil remains in custody in Louisiana, where a federal judge is set to determine the next steps in his case during a hearing on Wednesday morning.

His lawyers are seeking to have him returned to New York.