Protesters Chain Themselves to Columbia’s Gates…Again

Earlier this month a group of Jewish students chained themselves to the gates of Columbia University to make demands related to Mahmoud Khalil’s case. After a few hours, campus security cut the chains and removed the protesters. This was presented as a sign of the school’s new, tougher approach to civil disobedience. 

Today, another group is chaining themselves to the gates and once again demanding that Mahmoud Khalil be set free.

BREAKING: Students and alums of Columbia University chain themselves to the gates of the university – their protest demands that Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi be freed, and more.

Details to follow. @DropSiteNews pic.twitter.com/sNLzZbsWpK

— Meghnad Bose (@MeghnadBose93) April 21, 2025

Their demands:

The protesting students and alums demand:

“1. Free Mahmoud and Mohsen
2. Disclose Columbia’s investments into companies operating with and in Israel
3. Make Columbia a “sanctuary campus”
4. Open Columbia’s gates”

Around a dozen chained to the gates. NYPD here.@DropSiteNews pic.twitter.com/l0cjBXKQHj

— Meghnad Bose (@MeghnadBose93) April 21, 2025

Here’s video of some of the demands.

Anti-Israel protesters at Columbia demand school become a “sanctuary campus” and divest from Jewish state https://t.co/UAwtiDYyVI pic.twitter.com/VHFpA3EEmr

— Jessica Costescu (@JessicaCostescu) April 21, 2025

The group Within Our Lifetime was encouraging people to stand with the protesters.

Pro-Hamas extremist group Within Our Lifetime is urging comrades to surge to the @Columbia University campus to chain themselves to the main gate and shut down campus for Mahmoud Khalil and other causes.

WOL infamously used Hamas symbols in their graphics after the Oct. 7 terror… pic.twitter.com/qKAF3gkvRw

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 21, 2025

There  was some singing.

VIDEO: Protesting students and alums outside the gates of Columbia University sing “We shall overcome some day, Mahmoud will be free, Mohsen will be free”@DropSiteNews pic.twitter.com/pesztps51l

— Meghnad Bose (@MeghnadBose93) April 21, 2025

Instead of waiting hours before taking action, this time security was pretty quick about attempting to remove the locks. They seem to be having some trouble though.

Props to @Columbia Public Safety for quickly removing the chains that protestors had used to tie themselves to a gate, obstructing a campus entrance in violation of protest rules. Swift enforcement of rules is critical to finally recreating a sane environment on our campus. pic.twitter.com/Jo4M7jblq7

— Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students ✡️🇮🇱 (@CUJewsIsraelis) April 21, 2025

Cutting the protesters off the gate is a good step but will anyone be held accountable for this or will we just reset and see this happen again in a few weeks.

This is the million dollar question. Cutting the chains deescalated the situation, but @Columbia still needs to enforce the rules, with disciplinary consequences for those who break them. Can they do it? https://t.co/SvhUhlZyqv

— Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students ✡️🇮🇱 (@CUJewsIsraelis) April 21, 2025

Classroom disruption is supposedly against the campus rules. All Columbia has to do is enforce those rules.

I’m currently in class in a building right next to the Amsterdam gate, and the lesson is being largely drowned out by the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition protestors’ calls that “from the water to the water, Palestine is Arab” in Arabic. https://t.co/cyQemGjKvd

— Eden Yadegar (@edenyadegar) April 21, 2025

The Columbia student newspaper has a story up about the protest. The story indicates they were given two warnings to disperse.

NYPD Emergency Service Unit officers approached the protesters at approximately 12:53 p.m. but did not make any arrests.

“This is a warning that you may be in violation of the Rules of University Conduct,” a University representative announced to the protesters.

The representative said that everyone present “must disperse” and “those who are chained to the entrance must unchain themselves and disperse.”…

At approximately 1:25 p.m., Public Safety officers began removing the bike locks with bolt cutters.

“Public Safety, you can’t hide,” protesters chanted. “We charge you with genocide.”

This has really been the problem from the start. It’s the reason the presidents of three universities were called before Congress back in 2023. These schools have repeated dragged their feet and refused to take action when students (or outside activists) violate campus rules regarding the time and place of protests. It wasn’t until a few months ago that some of the students involved in the building takeover last year were finally suspended or expelled. It shouldn’t take a year for consequences, especially not when the protesters are out there endorsing Hamas and openly supporting violence.

Finally, a word about the two people today’s protests were intended to help. The media has bent over backwards to portray Mahmoud Khalil as a reasonable person who never explicitly endorses Hamas. But is that a fair characterization?

Always wondered who this guy was who just a couple days after 10/7 was shouting in my face about how I needed to be genocided. Before any Israeli response.
Turns out according to the media his name is Mahmoud and he’s a really sweet guy… #mahmoudkhalil pic.twitter.com/8Jd6fRYQhn

— AJ Edelman, Israel’s Bobsledding Bear Jew (@realajedelman) April 21, 2025

As for Mohsen Mahdawi, the other people these protesters want released, he’s also been described by the media as a real sweetheart and a peacemaker, but is he?

NEW VIDEO: When Jewish @columbia students called to release the Bibas babies last winter, Mohsen Mahdawi BLARED A SIREN in their faces—and SMIRKED.

You really think this 35-year old man, who’s been an undergrad for 16 years, is just a ‘student’ exercising free speech?… pic.twitter.com/BRf0WMcTW8

— Columbia Jewish Alumni Assoc. (@CU_JewishAlumni) April 18, 2025

I don’t see any clear reports at the moment about whether any arrests were made. Were students involved at least identified for future disciplinary action? We’ll have to wait and see.