Fallout From Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil + SIO Members Endorse Zohran
No. 418 | Monday, March 17, 2025
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Local News
Following ICE’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia University grad student who helped organize last year’s divestment protests against Israeli war crimes, protesters flooded the Trump Tower and the Lower Manhattan courthouse demanding his release. Khalil, who has not been charged with any crime, was sent to a detention facility in Louisiana, and his lawyers were told they could not speak to him until March 20. In a video taken by Khalil’s pregnant wife at the time of the arrest, plainclothes officers are seen taking Khalil away and refusing to reveal their name or agency.
The Trump White House has reportedly been monitoring Khalil’s detention and working with Columbia University to expel, suspend, and even revoke the degrees of other students who participated in last year’s protests, including Grant Miner, the union president of the Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers. Another student has also had her visa revoked for protesting.
After Assembly Member and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani confronted Trump’s border czar Tom Homan over these assaults on free speech, his office was flooded with hate speech and death threats.
The State budget process took a step forward with the release of the Senate and Assembly “One-House” bills. These counter-proposals to the executive budget set up some conflicts with Governor Hochul over criminal justice, education funding, and climate policy.
The benefits of Governor Hochul’s proposed “middle-class” tax cut would overwhelmingly go to the richest New Yorkers, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.
The Metropolitan Park casino project in Queens cleared a major hurdle in front of the City Council last week, which approved various zoning changes despite opposition from local residents worried about gentrification and displacement.
Election News
Six members of NYC-DSA’s Socialists in Office committee – DSA members in the State Senate and Assembly – announced their endorsement of Zohran Mamdani for mayor.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams officially entered the 2025 mayoral race, rolling out an early batch of endorsements, including seven sitting Council Members. But Adams conceded she is unlikely to qualify for matching funds until the next disbursement, in late May.
Rodneyse Bichotte Hermlyn, the Brooklyn Democratic Chair and former Eric Adams ally, endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor.
Scott Stringer led an anti-Cuomo bus tour, highlighting the damage Andrew Cuomo did to the City as governor.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer opted to avert a government shutdown and approve the House GOP’s spending bill with Democratic votes, resulting in protests at the Senator’s Brooklyn home and leaving many in the party angry enough to privately encourage Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Queens) to challenge him when he is up for re-election in 2028.
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