Louisiana
Anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil speaks out and reveals his future plans after release from Louisiana lockup
Anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil lamented leaving behind some “incredible men” on Friday as he left a Louisiana detention facility, which he hopes becomes a museum to what he described as “America’s racist policies.”
“I leave some incredible men behind me, over 1,000 people behind me, in a place where they shouldn’t have been in the first place,” Khalil told reporters after walking out of the La Salle Detention Facility in Jena, La.
“I hope the next time that I will be in Jena is to actually visit this as a museum on America’s racist policies against immigrants,” the former Columbia University student added.
After being picked up by federal immigration authorities on March 8, Khalil spent 104 days at the rural Louisiana detention center as the Trump administration fought to deport the Syrian-born permanent resident for allegedly engaging in activities “aligned to Hamas,” a Palestinian terror group, while studying at Columbia.
“The Trump administration are doing their best to dehumanize everyone here,” Khalil charged outside the detention center, “whether you are a US citizen, an immigrant, or just a person on this land doesn’t mean that you are less of a human.”
“[President Trump] and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this,” he said defiantly. “That doesn’t mean that there is a right person.”
Khalil, wearing a keffiyeh, went on to slam his alma mater, accusing the Ivy League school of “investing in the genocide of the Palestinian people.”
“There is no right person who should be detained, who are actually protesting a genocide, for protesting their university – Columbia University – that is investing in the genocide of the Palestinian people,” he said.
Newark federal Judge Michael Farbiarz, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, ordered Khalil’s release earlier Friday, finding that the Trump administration may be unfairly holding him in retaliation for his outspoken stance against Israel’s war with Hamas.
Farbiarz determined that Khalil is not a flight risk and “not a danger to the community.”
The anti-Israel activist said the first thing he’ll do when he returns home to New York is “just hug my wife and son.”
Khalil’s wife, an American citizen, gave birth to their son in April while her husband was being held in the Louisiana facility.
“The only time I spent with my son was a specified one-hour limit that the government had imposed on us … so that means that now I can actually hug him and Noor, my wife, without looking at the clock,” Khalil said.
“The moment you enter this facility, your rights leave you, leave you behind,” he continued. “So, once you enter there, you see a different reality – just a different reality about this country that supposedly champions human rights and liberty and justice.”
“But once you cross, literally, that door, you see that opposite side of what’s actually happening in this country.”
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin slammed Farbiarz ruling and told The Post she expects a higher court to order Khalil’s return to federal custody.
“An immigration judge, not a district judge, has the authority to decide if Mr. Khalil should be released or detained,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “On the same day an immigration judge denied Khalil bond and ordered him removed, one rogue district judge ordered him released.”
“This is yet another example of how out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining national security. Their conduct not only denies the result of the 2024 election, it also does great harm to our constitutional system by undermining public confidence in the courts.”
McLaughlin argued that “it is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America” and that the Trump administration “acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property.”
“An immigration judge has already vindicated this position. We expect a higher court to do the same.”
ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – The federal government is building a nationwide standard as the United States competes in a global A.I. race, much the same as the Space Race of the 20th century.
Last week, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at establishing a uniform federal regulatory framework for artificial intelligence in the United States.
The order emphasized a need for AI companies to be allowed to innovate without hinderance from excessive regulations, so that the system would not become fragmented.
Marva Bailer is the CEO and founder of Qualaix, which works to improve productivity and innovation with AI through conversations. She said this framework a step towards realizing an untapped potential in the United States for innovation and productivity through AI.
“We are leading the AI race,” said Bailer. “What is getting people’s attention is there are areas that we could be a lot stronger and lean in a lot faster.”
We spoke with KALB political analyst Greg LaRose to learn how this new framework might impact Louisiana’s development.
Since 2024, the construction of multiple AI data centers has been announced across the state, with each new center estimated to be worth billions of dollars and promising new jobs and growth for Louisiana.
According to LaRose, the executive order should not realistically confine any of the state’s major AI projects.
“Through the Louisiana lens at that executive order from President Trump, I’m not really seeing anything that really confines what’s going on in the state.”
The majority of the state’s laws are concerned with deep fakes.
In October, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry issued his own executive order which banned, “Communist Chinese AI platforms’ from systems within state government.”
While it is unclear how Louisiana will enforce Landry’s order, LaRose said the state does face other concerns.
“I think they’re more concerned about giving China access to the data that is used to create, say, a Louisiana-based deep fake or any type of issue,” said LaRose. “For example, like transcription software that people are increasingly using to make record-keeping a lot easier. I think the idea is that that type of information be kept out of hands that we don’t want it in.”
This, as the global AI race heats up heading into 2026.
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The last of two inmates who had been on the run since escaping from a jail in the southern Louisiana city of Opelousas earlier this month has been caught, officials said Friday. A third inmate who was also part of the escape died by suicide after being caught by police, authorities previously said.
Keith Anthony Eli II, 24, was taken into custody in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said in a news release. Opelousas is located about 25 miles north of Lafayette.
Guidroz said Eli was captured by narcotics detectives and a SWAT team thanks to a tip.
At the time of his escape, Eli was held on an attempted second-degree murder charge.
The three men had escaped the St. Landry Parish Jail on Dec. 3 by removing concrete blocks from an upper wall area, Guidroz said at the time.
Authorities said the inmates then used sheets and other materials to scale the exterior wall, climb onto a first-floor roof and lower themselves to the ground, Guidroz said.
Escapee Jonathan Joseph, 24, was captured on Dec. 5. He is in custody on multiple charges, including first-degree rape.
Joseph Harrington, 26, faced several felony charges, including home invasion. On Dec. 4, one day after the escape, he was recognized by a tipster while pushing a black e-bike. Police found the e-bike at a neighboring home and heard a gunshot while trying to coax him to leave the building. He had shot himself with a hunting rifle, Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux said by telephone to The Associated Press.
The escape came more than seven months after 10 inmates broke out of a New Orleans jail. All ten of since been captured.
Victims speak on ‘Goon Squad’ sentencing
‘Goon Squad’ victims Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker speak during a press conference after the sentencing at the Rankin County Circuit Court in Brandon, Miss., on Wednesday, April 10, 2024.
Eddie Terrell Parker, one of two men who settled a civil lawsuit against Rankin County and the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department in the “Goon Squad” case, was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 17, and is being held in a northeast Louisiana jail on multiple charges.
Louisiana State Police Senior Trooper Ryan Davis confirmed details of the incident to the Clarion Ledger via phone call on Friday, Dec. 19.
Davis said Parker was traveling east on Interstate 20 in Madison Parish, Louisiana, when a trooper observed Parker committing “multiple traffic violations.” Davis said the trooper conducted a traffic stop, identified themselves and explained the reason for the stop.
Parker was allegedly found in possession of multiple narcotics, along with at least one firearm.
Parker was booked around 8 p.m. Wednesday into the Madison Parish Detention Center in Tallulah, Louisiana, on the following charges, as stated by Davis:
- Possession of marijuana with intent to distribute
- Possession of ecstasy with intent to distribute
- Possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute
- Possession of cocaine with intent to distribute
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
- Possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled substance
- Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
Details about the quantity of narcotics found in Parker’s possession were not immediately available.
Davis told the Clarion Ledger that Parker received a $205,250 bond after appearing before a judge.
Parker, along with another man named Michael Jenkins, was tortured and abused on Jan. 24, 2023, at a home in Braxton, at the hands of six former law enforcement officers who called themselves “The Goon Squad.” Parker and Jenkins filed a lawsuit in June 2023 against Rankin County and Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey.
Each of the six former Mississippi law enforcement officers involved in the incident are serving prison time for state and federal charges. Those officers were identified as former Rankin County deputies Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke, and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield.
Court documents show U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III issued an order on April 30 dismissing a $400 million lawsuit brought by Jenkins and Parker, saying that the two men had reached a settlement with the county and Bailey. Jenkins and Parker sought compensatory damages, punitive damages, interest and other costs.
According to court records, the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. However, the order stated that if any party fails to comply with settlement terms, any aggrieved party may reopen the matter for enforcement of the settlement.
Jason Dare, legal counsel for the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, stated the settlement agreement totaled to $2.5 million. According to Dare, the settlement was not an admission of guilt on the county’s or the sheriff’s department’s part.
Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Have a tip? Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.
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