Mahmoud Khalil says MAGA world has targeted him like the KKK
Formerly detained Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil has filed a lawsuit against conservative activist groups and several members of the Trump administration that cites the Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era law designed to thwart racist intimidation.
Khalil, a staunch critic of Israel’s government whom Trump officials have tried to deport, has become the face of the administration’s push to weaponize the government against liberals — particularly pro-Palestinian activists — and to censor speech on college campuses.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, accuses several current and former officials of a “conspiracy” to deprive Khalil of his rights. Per the suit:
The federal officials who are a part of the conspiracy include Senior Presidential Advisor Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and John Armstrong, an official at the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.
The lawsuit contends that the officials were aided by pro-Israel groups — including The Heritage Foundation, via its dubious “Project Esther” initiative, and Canary Mission, a group known for releasing information on pro-Palestinian students and professors — in their effort to “terrorize and make an example of Mr. Khalil” in order to “intimidate and silence the growing movement for Palestinian rights and political freedom, in a manner the KKK Act was designed to proscribe when enacted during Reconstruction.”
The Associated Press reported that a White House spokesperson defended the executive branch’s “lawful authority to take actions that will protect the public and to ensure the integrity of our immigration system,” while a representative for The Heritage Foundation told Jerusalem News Syndicate that the group “will be undeterred by those attempting to silence us.” Other defendants don’t appear to have commented publicly.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
