Approximately 150 left-wing protestors illegally forced their way into Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday in response to the Trump administration’s detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Hamas activist who has been a chief instigator of the anti-Israel “occupation” of Columbia University.
The New York City Police Department’s Chief John Chell explained that the protesters entered Trump Tower with “civilian clothes” before switching to matching red shirts with pro-Hamas slogans. Nearly 100 individuals refused to leave and were arrested. Police carried out the operation over the course of two hours. No one was hurt.
“The police officers who responded today were absolutely fantastic,” said Lara Trump, former RNC co-chair and daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump. “They got things under control very quickly, and I think they took a situation that could have gotten out of hand and pared it back.”
Jewish Voice for Peace, which organized the protest, is a left-wing activist group that has been a strident opponent of Israel’s war effort against the terrorist group Hamas following the brutal slaughter of more than 1,200 Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023. The group published a statement demanding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) release Khalil. In this statement, Jewish Voice for Peace falsely claimed the Trump administration supports “Nazis” and “white supremacists.”
Fox News reported that the group receives funding from notable left-wing organizations, including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Kaphan Foundation.
Despite the organization’s name, radio host Mark Levin hammered the group for its anti-Jewish activism.
“For those who do not know, the notoriously antisemitic (yes) and anti-Israel (yes) ‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ is a radical left/Marxist organization that seeks the elimination of the state of Israel and is a major force behind the BDS movement,” he said. “It has received funding from, among others, George Soros. It is a huge embarrassment to the vast majority of Jews, who know this group uses Jewish identity as a cover for its hatred and radicalism.”
The Anti-Defamation League has said Jewish Voice for Peace does not represent the mainstream Jewish community.
Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene claimed that Jewish Voice for Peace is the same group “that invaded the Cannon House Office Building in October 2023.”
“Shutting down the House of Representatives should have carried penalties just as severe as the ones pre-trial J6 defendants were subjected to—before President Trump rightly pardoned them. But it didn’t,” she posted on X. “Their group chat was labeled Global Intifada, which means global Arab uprising and rebellion. Why was an Arab uprising able to occupy a building where President Trump and his family maintain an active residence?”
NYPD Chief of Department John Chell said he was “very happy” with the professionalism shown by officers and noted that the department has handled more than 5,000 anti-Israel protests since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
