Syrian-born anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, released from detention despite alleged Hamas ties, vowed on Saturday to continue anti-Israel protests while appearing alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) at a New Jersey airport.

Khalil, 30, spent 104 days in a Lousina detention center after his March 8 arrest, as the Trump administration sought to deport the Columbia student for allegedly engaging in activities “aligned to Hamas,” the Palestinian terrorist group responsible for the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

Immediately upon his Friday release following a court order from U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz, Khalil bashed the U.S.-funded “genocide” in Gaza, and even vowed to fight for the rights of the “incredible men” he was imprisoned with in Louisiana, per the New York Post.

“The U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide,” Khalil declared at the airport. “This is what I was protesting. This is what I will continue to protest with every one of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine.”

AOC just imbedded herself with a Terrorist Hamas supporter 👍👍👍 Dems 80/20 – we'll take 20 🤣

BREAKING: Mahmoud Khalil Holds Press Gaggle With AOC After Being Released From Immigration Detention https://t.co/WOiRdLUc5k pic.twitter.com/zk8712HIqG

— Joni Job (@jj_talking) June 21, 2025

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who joined Khalil at Newark Liberty International Airport alongside his wife and their newborn son, claimed the allegations against Khalil were politically motivated.

“Because Mahmoud Khalil is an advocate for Palestinian human rights, he has been accused, baselessly, of horrific allegations, simply because the Trump administration and our overall establishment disagrees with his political speech,” the congresswoman claimed to reporters. “We will continue to resist the politicization and the continued political persecution that ICE is engaged in.”

The conditions of Khalil’s bail included surrendering his passport and travel restrictions limiting him to New York, New Jersey, Michigan, to visit his family, Washington, D.C., and Louisiana, where his immigration trial will be held.

Khalil graduated from Columbia in December, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused him of leading “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States,” as The Daily Wire previously reported.

“Condoning antisemitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective,” Rubio added, citing the 1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act, which authorizes the U.S. Secretary of State to deport anyone whose continued residence in the country “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”

Defense attorneys for Khalil celebrated the Syrian’s release as a “significant and important victory,” per the Post.

The Trump administration is appealing Judge Farbiarz’s preliminary injunction and Khalil’s release on bail to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

CNN’s Van Jones warned progressives to “get on board” with President Donald Trump’s position on Iran — namely that the Islamist state cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon of any kind.

Jones, who served in former President Barack Obama’s administration as the Green Jobs Czar, spoke from his own experience visiting Israel and argued that the United States could not treat Iran as a “normal country” when it came to implementing foreign policy.

WATCH:

🚨NEW: CNN’s Van Jones calls on “progressives” to “GET ON BOARD” with Trump’s stance that Iran *can’t* have nuclear weapon🚨

“I think progressives underestimate how dangerous Iran is. Iran is not a normal country. Normal countries don‘t blind women because they showed some hair.… pic.twitter.com/HFQloc2Gwg

— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) June 21, 2025

“I was also in the Holy Land very recently,” Jones said during a panel discussion that also included Republican commentator Scott Jennings — who just returned from Israel days earlier after spending more than a week in and out of bomb shelters after Iran lobbed barrage after barrage of missiles.

“I think progressives underestimate how dangerous Iran is,” Jones observed. “Iran is not a normal country. Normal countries don’t blind women because they showed some hair. They don’t empower little gangs and proxies to surround a country and fire rockets and rape people.”

“So Iran — two things are clear,” Jones declared. “The what — they cannot have a bomb. And the why — because they say death to America, death to Israel, and death to all the Jews. One of those should offend you if you’re progressives — at least one should offend you.”

“And so the question, though, is the who and the how,” he continued. “Is Israel going to take out this nuclear capacity by dropping people there who blow it up? Or is America going to take it out by dropping a bomb that blows it up? But the what and the why are clear, and I think progressives should get on board with that.”

“We cannot have a nuclear-armed Iran,” Jones insisted, again recounting his time in Israel. “This is a very dangerous power that cannot get a nuclear weapon.”