The radical student from Columbia University who was recently freed from ICE custody was questioned by the FBI in 2015 after he was said to have told the owner of a gun shop, “I like to kill Jews.”

According to court papers filed by federal authorities last month, the activist, Mohsen Mahdawi, went to the gun store in the summer of 2015 and asked the owner about different guns. As of Thursday, the federal government is still trying to get Mahdawi released.

“The owner told Windsor, Vermont police officers that Mr. Mahdawi had visited his store twice, expressing an interest in learning more about firearms and buying a sniper rifle and an automatic weapon and that he ‘had considerable firearm experience and used to build modified 9mm submachine guns to kill Jews while he was in Palestine,’” the file says.

“”The store owner said that Mr. Mahdawi took pictures of the goods in the shop. It’s written that the shop owner gave the police the name of a gun enthusiast who said he had a similar conversation with Mr. Mahdawi at the “Precision Museum” in Windsor. “During that conversation, Mr. Mahdawi allegedly told the enthusiast, ‘I like to kill Jews.’”

“When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans and harass Jews, that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country,” McLauglin said. It makes sense to us, the law, and the facts. The Trump administration will bring back the rule of law to our immigration system, and this judge or any other will not stop them.

She is 34 years old and was born in the West Bank. She has lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years. He said he had been to the gun shop and the gun museum, but in an interview with the FBI, he denied saying racist things to both the owner of the gun store and the guide at the museum.

He now says he is a Buddhist and has “found comfort and healing in the spiritual community.” He spends his time trying to figure out how to make peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis last, especially by studying how to settle disagreements.

Mahdawi was freed on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Mahdawi told President Trump in a text message as he left the jail.

The court document says Mahdawi helped start the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia after the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023. Other pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil helped him start the group. Khalil was held by federal immigration officials during the Trump administration earlier this year.