Thirty-four-year-old Jordanian citizen Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by ICE agents last month when he went to take a citizenship test.

Yet despite Mahdawi's open support for the terror group Hamas and leadership of anti-Israel protests, an Obama-appointed judge has ordered that he be released. 

Mahdawi voiced support for Hamas following October 7 attack

According to the Washington Free Beacon, Mahdawi has spoken favorably of Hamas, which carried out an attack on Israel that left roughly 1400 people dead and hundreds more taken hostage.

Mahdawi was quoted as telling a news outlet two weeks after the massacre that "Hamas is a product of the Israeli occupation."

He also helped to draft an October 14, 2023 statement put out by a coalition of anti-Israel groups at Columbia University.

"Palestinian struggle for freedom is rooted in international law, under which occupied peoples have the right to resist the occupation of their land," it read.

Mahdawi praised cousin who died fighting for Hamas

"If every political avenue available to Palestinians is blocked, we should not be surprised when resistance and violence breaks out," the statement went on to add.

What's more, Mahdawi helped to organize illegal anti-Israel protests at the university which eventually led to mass arrests by NYPD officers.

The Beacon further noted that Mahdawi has familial ties to Hamas and posted a social media tribute to a cousin who was killed while serving in its Al-Qassam Brigades.

STUDENT TIES TO TERRORISM AT COLUMBIA: Last week @Columbia student and @ColumbiaBDS leader Mohsen Mahdawi praised his “martyred” cousin and his high-ranking Hamas friends on Instagram:
“I received the news of the martyrdom of my cousin,...Masra Masharqa, after a clash with a… pic.twitter.com/URBw9oLUYu

— Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students ✡️🇮🇱 (@CUJewsIsraelis) September 4, 2024

Mahdawi praised Masra Masharqa for offering "his soul as a sacrifice for the homeland and for the blood of the martyrs as a gift for the victory of Gaza and in defense of the dignity of his homeland and his people against the vicious Israeli occupation in the West Bank."

Gun shop owner reported Mahdawi to authorities

Nevertheless, Breitbart reported that Mahdawi's release was ordered by U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford, who was appointed by then President Barack Obama in 2014.

This was despite a Vermont gun shop owner having reported disturbing comments which Mahdawi allegedly made during two visits.

Mahdawi is said to have talked about building "modified 9mm submachine guns to kill Jews while he was in Palestine."