New York, April 1 (RHC)-- Several alumni from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs have publicly ripped up their diplomas to protest the Trump administration’s jailing of Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian Columbia student protest leader who was abducted by ICE and flown to an immigration jail in Louisiana, even though he’s a permanent U.S. resident. 

Protesters accuse Columbia’s administration of putting collaboration with federal agencies ahead of protecting students and their rights to free speech.  One organizer of the protest, Jasmine Sarryeh-Jemeršić, told reporters: “Columbia loves to celebrate its Vietnam-era legacy.  It loves to talk about how brave students were for protesting.  But why was it courageous then and criminalized now?”

Another protester, Trevor Kenmure, said: “Columbia’s vicious crackdown on protest, its attempts to silence pro-Palestinian students and faculty, has helped pave the way for the American fascism we see unfolding around us.”

[ SOURCE: DEMOCRACY NOW ]