Columbia student activist interviewed by FBI for allegedly saying 'I like to kill Jews': court docs

The Columbia University student activist who was recently ordered released from ICE custody was interviewed by the FBI in 2015 after allegedly telling a gun shop owner that "I like to kill Jews."

The activist, Mohsen Mahdawi, visited the gun store in the summer of 2015 and inquired about various firearms while in conversation with the store's owner, according to court documents submitted by federal authorities last month. The federal government is appealing Mahdawi's release as of Thursday.

"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 document reads.

""The store owner stated that Mr. Mahdawi took photos of the store and its merchandise. The store owner gave the police the name of a fellow gun enthusiast who stated that he had a similar conversation with Mr. Mahdawi at the ‘Precision Museum’ in Windsor," the document continues. "During that conversation, Mr. Mahdawi allegedly told the enthusiast, ‘I like to kill Jews.’"

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Mohsen Mahdawi, center, looks on during an anti-Israel protest at Columbia University on Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

DHS Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin condemned Mahdawi's release in a statement on social media.

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"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 wrote. "We have the law, facts and commonsense on our side. No judge, not this one or another, is going to stop the Trump Administration from restoring the rule of law to our immigration system."

Mahdawi helped organize anti-Israel protests on Columbia University's campus last year. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Mahdawi, 34, was raised in the West Bank and has now lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years. He confirmed trips to the gun store and gun museum, but denied making antisemitic comments to both the gun store owner and the museum guide in an interview with the FBI.

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He now says he practices Buddhism and has "found comfort and healing in the spiritual community," dedicating his time "to understanding how to achieve a lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis, particularly through the study of conflict resolution."

U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered Mahdawi's release on Wednesday. 

"I'm not afraid of you," Mahdawi declared in a message to President Donald Trump as he left the courthouse.

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According to the court filing, Mahdawi co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack. He founded the group with Mahmoud Khalil, another pro-Palestinian activist who was detained by federal immigration officials under the Trump administration earlier this year.

Read the full court document below