The networks had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into coverage of the virulent antisemitic protests at major universities across the United States, beginning with those at Columbia University in New York. The protesters’ worst excesses were often left off of reporting, lest people get the idea that they were materially supportive both of Hamas and of the atrocities they committed on October 7th, 2023. But there is, at long last, an angle worthy of thorough media coverage.
Judging by the level of concern displayed by the media, Mahmoud Khalil emerges as their truest, purest victim of the still-ongoing student protests. The worst network coverage comes via CBS Evening News Plus, a streaming product that is intended to complement the beleaguered Evening News.
Watch as correspondent Lilia Luciano describes the arrest as having a chilling effect on free speech:
JOHN DICKERSON: And tell me what’s the reaction been on the campus, which has obviously been a hotbed of protests?
LILIA LUCIANO: Today was a cold day. And John, I have to say -- it was a cold day because you could feel the chill in the air which really matched the chill in terms of freedom of expression. I heard from students, from faculty members, some were incensed and many refused to talk to us on camera because they are afraid of the repercussions that go beyond disciplinary action in the school- go into their own freedom.
DICKERSON: Lilia Luciano reporting, thank you.
This report led off the Evening News Plus, and it was two-minutes plus of Luciano advocating for the protesters generally and Khalil specifically. She argued against detention and represented Khalil to viewers as a pacifying figure. Luciano also threw out the “criminality” misdirection, suggesting that Khalil has to be found guilty of a crime before being deported.
That simply isn’t the case. Khalil is reported to have been lead negotiator for a group called Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which has openly and brazenly supported Hamas in its war against Israel. That alone is sufficient cause for deportation according to a basic reading of the plain text of the statute. But that part of Khalil’s biography (like his UNRWA internship until a month after the 10/7 terror attack) gets suppressed from coverage- just like the violent persecution of Jewish students by the pro-jihadi protestors.
ABC World News Tonight was only a wee bit more transparent with Khalil’s biography, but followed the same “free speech” angle:
AARON KATERSKY: As a Columbia University graduate student, Khalil helped lead pro-Palestinian protests and organized encampments that took over the campus for weeks last spring. Federal agents arrested Khalil Saturday at his Columbia student housing apartment. He is currently being held 1,000 miles away at a detention facility in Louisiana. The feds say Khalil was detained in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting anti-semitism and because he led activities aligned with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Khalil’s lawyers call it open repression of student activism and political speech.
NBC Nightly News steered clear of the fake free speech and criminality angles, delivering instead a quote from the man himself:
MAHMOUD KHALIL: We want a divestment from the Israeli occupation.
We’ve done this long enough that we are no longer surprised to see the media walk in lockstep with Democrats: in this instance, Senate Democrats who have publicly called for Khalil’s release. The terror apologia, though, is still jarring to watch.
Click “expand” to view transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective networks on March 10th, 2025:
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
3/10/25
6:43 PM
DAVID MUIR: In New York City late today, the protests after a former Columbia grad student who led pro-Palestinian demonstrations was detained by ICE Agents. The protests in Lower Manhattan, they say it is an attack on the student’s free speech. Here’s our Chief Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katersky.
AARON KATERSKY: Tonight, hundreds of demonstrators in New York City demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil.
PROTESTERS: Release Mahmoud Khalil now.
KATERSKY: As a Columbia University graduate student, Khalil helped lead pro-Palestinian protests and organized encampments that took over the campus for weeks last spring. Federal agents arrested Khalil Saturday at his Columbia student housing apartment. He is currently being held 1,000 miles away at a detention facility in Louisiana. The feds say Khalil was detained in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting anti-semitism and because he led activities aligned with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Khalil’s lawyers call it open repression of student activism and political speech.
BAHER AZMY: His speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution, and it should be chilling to everyone that the United States government could punish or try to deport someone because they disapprove of the speech they're engaged in.
KATERSKY: Khalil's attorney telling ABC News authorities told Khalil his student Visa was being revoked. But he no longer has a student visa. He’s a green card holder, a permanent resident, and his American wife is eight months pregnant. The White House posting this image of Khalil. President Trump writing, “this is the first arrest of many to come.”
PROTESTER: We have to fight now.
KATERSKY: Protesters here today undeterred.
PROTESTER: We are not going to let these arrests intimidate us at all. In fact, we will be here for as long as we need to be, to make sure that, you know, we're not silenced.
KATERSKY: Just moments ago, David, a federal judge ruled that Khalil cannot be deported while he decides whether his arrest was lawful. David.
MUIR: Aaron Katersky right here in New York tonight. Aaron, thank you.
CBS EVENING NEWS PLUS
3/10/25
7:02 PM
JOHN DICKERSON: We begin here in New York City with an arrest over the weekend. Columbia University grad Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and faces deportation. He's a green card holder but the Trump administration says the arrest stems from his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at the school last year. The Department of Homeland Security says his arrest is a result of Mr. Trump's executive order prohibiting anti-semitism, and President Trump says it is the first of many to come. I’m joined now by CBS’s Lilia Luciano. So Lilia, tell me about what Khalid(sic) did with respect to these protests and what’s he being charged with?
LILIA LUCIANO: That's a great question, John. What the Department of Homeland Security has expressed is that they're following an executive order that bans anti-semitism. What Secretary of State Rubio has said is that this is one example of other people who could lose their visas and their green cards. What I have seen online, even from those who had criticized his activities, are expressions against the war, pro-Palestinian protests. He’s somebody who students told me today- and faculty members, was kind of a negotiator between students, leading the protests, and the faculty. I have yet to see anything indicating criminal activity which would be the bar that needs to be set.
DICKERSON: That leads me to my next question, which is: if you have a green card, what's the bar that gets; that allows the government to kick you out of the country, essentially?
LUCIANO: It is quite a high bar, John. I've consulted several immigration attorneys today. One told me, “I have never seen anything like this, including after 9/11, including under the Patriot Act.” Today, a judge blocked the deportation to provide his legal team an opportunity and to maintain the jurisdiction in New York to fight this case. Somebody who is a permanent resident, who is married to an American citizen, you have to prove that he has committed a crime. And we are yet to see that.
DICKERSON: And is there any schedule for when that hearing will happen, or that next step?
LUCIANO: It will happen next Wednesday at 11:30. Of course, we will be covering it there.
DICKERSON: And tell me what’s the reaction been on the campus, which has obviously been a hotbed of protests?
LUCIANO: Today was a cold day. And John, I have to say- it was a cold day because you could feel the chill in the air which really matched the chill in terms of freedom of expression. I heard from students, from faculty members, some were incensed and many refused to talk to us on camera because they are afraid of the repercussions that go beyond disciplinary action in the school- go into their own freedom.
DICKERSON: Lilia Luciano reporting, thank you.
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
3/5/25
6:44 PM
LESTER HOLT: Here in New York, The arrest of a pro-Palestinian activist by immigration agents is sparking protests. The former Columbia University student is a green card holder who was involved in demonstrations on campus. Here's Emilie Ikeda.
EMILIE IKEDA: Tonight, anger spilling onto New York City sidewalks after federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, who his lawyer says is a legal permanent resident with a green card. Khalil recently finished a masters at Columbia and helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on campus. His lawyer adding, he was detained on Saturday in front of his wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant. The Department of Homeland Security says Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. But tonight, a federal judge stepping in, temporarily blocking any effort to remove Khalil from the U.S. Columbia became a flash point for protests against Israel last spring. We interviewed Khalil then.
MAHMOUD KHALIL: We want a divestment from the Israeli occupation.
IKEDA: In the wake of the nationwide protests, President Trump has vowed to crack down on anti-semitism on college campuses. Today, he called Khalil's detainment the first arrest of many to come.
TOM HOMAN: Any resident alien who commits a crime is eligible for deportation.
IKEDA: DHS would not comment on what, if any, charges Khalil is facing. The agency’s website says he's currently detained in Louisiana.
PROTESTER: People are being disappeared under our government's watch with no recourse, no charges, and it's a massive escalation that everybody should be concerned about.
IKEDA: According to the Associated Press, Khalil was under investigation by a new committee at Columbia that addresses cases of alleged discrimination. Khalil telling the AP the allegations against him are mostly “social media posts that I had nothing to do with.” Columbia University saying it's committed to following the law and to freedom of speech. Khalil’s lawyer is challenging his detainment. Lester.
HOLT: Emilie Ikeda, thank you.
