Gaza activist's detention 'not about speech', US State Dept says

The green card revocation and arrest of a prominent pro-Palestine activist at Columbia University was not about "speech" but about "actions", State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Monday.

She did not provide evidence that Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate from Columbia, acted on anything illegal. 

"There's also, I know, a freedom of speech argument, but this is not about speech. It's about actions. It's about things that were done," she said.

"And of course, I don't want to go further, because also this is within a court dynamic. America's got the best court system in the world, and there will be arguments on both sides no doubt regarding this, but it has to be argued."