Walkout Held to Protest the Trump Administration and the Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil

Pro-Palestine protesters holding a sign in front of Geisel Library. Courtesy of McKenzie Turner.

On Wednesday, April 2 at 1 P.M., a walkout and rally were held in front of Geisel Library. The event was held in response to Israel’s ongoing war on Palestine, the actions of the Trump Administration, and the recent arrest of the Columbia graduate student and Palestinian activist, Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil is a former Columbia University student who has aided in organizing on-campus protests in 2024. At 8:30 P.M., on March 8, Khalil was arrested by ICE officers for allegedly leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” This occurred despite Khalil holding a green card.

The Walkout  and Rally was announced on March 31 by the Students Justice for Palestine (SJP) of San Diego, the San Diego chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace, and UCSD Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP). Although the post was created by all three organizations, it stated that “The event advertised above is being independently organized by individual students at UC San Diego, and is not affiliated with or sponsored by any registered student organizations.” The statement is likely in reference to UCSD’s disbanding of SJP after the university cleared its Gaza Encampment.

At around 1:20 P.M., the event began with an opening speech from an SJP member. They shared the need to change their previous name from SJP at UCSD to SJP of San Diego after claiming to be served a lawsuit from the university.

“You see SJP has 16,000 followers. We average 400 views per story. That’s not a coincidence. That’s clear pressure that the university has… with organizations that suppressed student organizers,” the SJP member said in relation to changes to their social media page.

Next, Political Science major and Associated Students (AS) Presidential candidate, Ricardo Miranda, delivered a speech about the need for UCSD students to “amplify our voices.” Particularly, he referenced UCSD’s need to divest from Israel, much like in 1986, where UCSD students and other UCs successfully divested from South Africa. On March 7, 2024,  UCSD AS passed a resolution calling for divestment from Israel. As of yet, the university has not divested.

Another AS Presidential Candidate, William Simpson, delivered a speech discussing the Trump Administration being a “dark, disgusting shadow over our campus.” Simpson’s statement stems from UCSD’s hiring freeze that began on February 19 for core and non-core funded positions due to the current Trump Administration cutting university funding in taking down DEI efforts.

William Simpson delivering speech in front of Geisel Library. Courtesy of McKenzie Turner.

Simpson also expressed his disdain for the university’s issue of “silencing” students since the removal of the Pro-Palestine encampment on May 6, 2024. He stated, “To the university administration, you do not get to claim diversity and inclusion while turning your back on your own students.”

One of the most standout speeches came from Associate Professor of the Communication department, Gary Fields, who was one of two professors arrested during the clearing of last year’s Gaza Encampment. In his 12-minute speech, Field addressed the intersection of Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest as not only a protestor, but also as an immigrant. 

“Let us also be reminded of the fact that our campus sits on one of the flashpoints for immigrant rights on the border here with Mexico,” Fields said, relaying the shared struggles between Pro-Palestine protesters  and undocumented students.

Associate Professor Gary Fields delivering his speech in front of Geisel Library. Courtesy of McKenzie Turner.

Fields finished his speech reading parts of Mahmoud Khalil’s letter from the Louisiana detention center, referring to it as “the modern version of the Martin Luther King’s, Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” 

Once speeches ended, the walkout commenced walking from Geisel Library to Price Center, ending in front of University Center.

One protester who spoke with The Triton but asked to remain anonymous said, “Being a citizen doesn’t really mean anything anymore… Mahmoud Khalil is a green card holder who was taken without any due process. We are more and more seeing ourselves fall into fascism.”

Protestors gathered in front of University Center. Courtesy of McKenzie Turner.

Cydney Macon is the Triton’s Editor and Chief