Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is released after spending over three months at a Louisiana detention center

Mahmoud Khalil – a Palestinian activist at the center of a long-running deportation fight – has been released from the Louisiana ICE detention center where he has spent more than three months after he was arrested outside his apartment on Columbia University’s campus, his attorneys said.

Judge Michael Farbiarz ordered Khalil’s release on bail Friday after finding he is not a flight risk or a danger to public safety. The judge said it’s “highly unusual” to be seeking his detention at this point.

The judge also cited several “extraordinary circumstances” in Khalil’s case that led him to order his release, including “that there is a due process violative effort to punish” the Columbia University graduate who played a central role in negotiations on behalf of pro-Palestinian student protesters last year.