President Donald Trump has declared war against students for exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of speech and protest.
In April 2024, students from Columbia University came together to storm East Butler Lawn, declaring it a “Liberated Zone,” in solidarity with Gaza and Palestinean people worldwide. The protest erupted following the United States’ unconditional financial support for Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
At the time, the Ministry of Health in Gaza had reported over 33,000 casualties. Seventy percent were women and children, with over 7000 declared missing, buried in rumble.
The protest inspired students and academics nationwide to take a stand. Unfortunately, state police forcefully disbanded the majority of encampments. Many of these ambushes took place in the dead of night.
Now, almost one year later, newly re-elected president Donald Trump has declared war on students who participated in these protests, starting with Columbia University. Here is what this means for anybody who cares about upholding U.S. constitutional rights.
The students are always right
Student protests in the United States have a long, rich history of taking a stance against injustice. In the early 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, students organized sit-ins and freedom rides throughout the South. These challenged the norms of segregation in businesses and on interstate bus travel, which the Supreme Court banned in 1964.
In 1970, the largest student strike in US history erupted from the U.S. bombings of Cambodia. This estimated four million students at over 450 universities. The pressure put on the Nixon administration helped to accelerate the US withdrawal from Vietnam. It also resulted in the Kent State Massacre on May 4, 1970, when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed students, killing four and injuring nine.
In the 1980s, students led a series of boycotts and divestment campaigns to apply pressure against universities and businesses that supported the apartheid regime in South Africa. This helped to raise global awareness of the violent injustices of apartheid and ultimately contributed to its eventual collapse in 1990.
Even though some were technically breaking the law, one fact stands out now: the students were always right. Though they faced violent force from state police, we unquestionably celebrate their efforts and bravery within academic settings today. Nobody, however, celebrates the police who brutalized them, who were the ones following the law.
Donald Trump’s police-backed kidnapping of Mahmoud Khalil
Trump isn’t just playing out his war against academics on the political battleground. It’s a forceful, police-backed attack on students and professors who spoke out against genocide.
On March 8, plain-dressed DHS agents barged into Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil’s university-sponsored apartment. Without providing a warrant, they forcefully arrested him just feet away from his 8-month pregnant wife. They took him to a holding facility in New Jersey before quietly transporting him to Louisiana. He still awaits potential deportation.
A week later, Khalil dictated a letter through a phone call, his first statement since the arrest. The letter describes the injustice and mistreatment he’s faced from the initial arrest to being forced to sleep on cold floors without a blanket. He describes his arrest as being “a direct consequence of exercising [his] right to free speech as [he] advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza”.
His letter continued to pressure both the Trump and Biden administrations for supplying the financial means for Israel to conduct the genocide. He encourages students and activists to continue to fight in the face of Trump’s tyranny. “If anything, my detention is a testament to the strength of the student movement in shifting public opinion toward Palestinian liberation … even if the public has yet to fully grasp it, it is students who steer us toward truth and justice.”
Further kidnappings
On March 17, Georgetown University post-doctorate fellow Badar Khan Suri was returning home to his wife and three young children following a Ramadan meal celebration when masked federal agents detained him outside of his home. 72 hours later, he arrived in Louisiana at a detainment center similar to Khalil’s.
They never charged Suri with a crime. According to his lawyers, however, Suri’s attempted removal from the country is rooted in his “expressed criticism of U.S foreign policy as it relates to Israel” as well as “critical views imputed to [him] due to familial relationship[s].”
The list goes on. ICE has ordered the surrendering of Momodou Taal, a Ph.D student at Cornell University and dual citizen of the UK and Gambia, for exercising his right to protest. They detained and deported Dr. Rasha Alaweih, a Brown University professor and specialized surgeon, despite a judge’s order. They’ve now targeted 21-year-old Columbia University student Yunseo Chung, who’s lived in the U.S. since she was 7, for deportation due to her protest activity last spring.
Trump has clarified that in the supposed “land of the free,” free speech and the right to protest do not apply to international students and green card holders. His actions are an attempt to intimidate any citizen who expresses their concern for the now over 50,000 confirmed Palestinians dead at the hands of Israel and the U.S. Despite his campaign’s “America First” policy, since taking office, Trump has approved nearly $12 billion in significant FMS sales to Israel.
Big Brother’s got eyes on Columbia students
In response to the recent activism, Columbia University created the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) to monitor student activity. Since January, OIE has sent dozens of emails to students warning them that they’re under investigation for their Pro-Palestinian activities.
OIE cites Title IV of the Civil Rights Act to justify its investigations. Participating in pro-Palestinian social media postings, peaceful demonstrations, and the distribution of Palestinian artwork is being deemed as creating a “hostile environment” for Jewish students.
Grant Miner, once a Jewish student at Columbia and president of the Columbia-United Auto Workers, disagrees with this. “I am Jewish,” he states. “I work in Jewish studies, and I am not alone in opposing the ongoing genocide. The Jewish people know what genocide is. That’s why so many of us, alongside people of all backgrounds, are standing up against what’s happening in Palestine.”
Last month, Columbia expelled Miner for publicly criticizing the genocide in Gaza. Columbia’s reasoning? The protection of Jewish students.
Trump has also ramped up AI-based efforts to help identify pro-Palestinian students and visa holders. Targeted students may have liked, reposted, or created any sort of post criticizing Israel. The program would highlight keywords and phrases linked to the spark in activism over the last year. A student intentionally or unintentionally liking a specific sort of post could place them on a watchlist.
Trump’s crackdown on freedom of speech is a slippery slope. It starts with students standing up against genocide, but three years from now, these AI systems could be used to monitor the speech and online activity of every ordinary citizen. Despite the Republican Party claiming to be advocates for free speech, it’s clear they only advocate for it if it aligns with the frameworks of their own agenda.
A call to action
How do we, as students and citizens, move forward knowing that our First Amendment rights are being actively dismantled? How do we combat an armed police force whose purpose is to detain and intimidate anyone who speaks out against the U.S.-backed genocide happening in Palestine?
The most important advocates for change we have are each other. Building trust within your local community is imperative. Always share your location with your family and at least two of your closest community members. When protesting, avoid traveling alone; always buddy up. If targeted by police, refuse all questions and remain silent. Report and communicate suspicious activity, especially if you think ICE or DHS may be involved.
Film everything. Repost videos that need to gain more awareness. Educate yourself with literature, then find people to discuss that literature with. Prioritize both your physical and mental help. Our community needs to be healthy and clear-minded to properly stand up to injustice.
The days of peaceful protest, unfortunately, may be coming to an end. Trump is eager to use violence in an attempt to end this flowering of activism once and for all. MAGA Americans will be by his side, potentially armed, emotionally charged, and ready to defend their president by any means necessary.
The Aggressive Progressive on Substack highlights some key points. “This is the moment for a modern reprisal of the Minuteman, our new way forward,” they write. A Minuteman, as they describe it, is anybody willing to resist and stand up for the protection and well-being of others upon a moment’s notice.
This form of resistance orbits around having adaptable, self-reliant, buddy networks. They may move independently but are always on the lookout for one another.
“Anyone and everyone can and should be a Minuteman, and they will be your brothers and sisters, your friends and neighbors… A Minuteman could be your bus driver, your Uber driver, your mail person, the person walking their dog.” Building ties with others, on an individual and communal basis, is the best form of protection.
Use this as an opportunity
What Trump doesn’t realize, or maybe he does, is that once he takes away the people’s ability to protest peacefully, they’re required to speak out in more radical efforts. The movement cannot be halted. The U.S. was a nation built on revolutionary efforts. To be an American, in essence, is to be a revolutionary.
Trump’s regime is an opportunity for Americans of all ethnic, political, and socioeconomic backgrounds to unite under a single cause. It’s a transformative moment in history that requires us to set differences aside and unite for the safety and freedom of all Americans and people worldwide. Together, we can challenge the status quo of violence and imperialism that has reigned for far too long.
When historians and future generations look back to this pivotal moment, how do you want to be remembered? As a part of the wave of change or as a passive bystander? The movement needs you more than ever. Plant the seeds today so that our children, grandchildren, and people beyond can inhabit a world where everybody lives free, safe, and fulfilled.
