New York, United States (AFP)—Hundreds of Jewish demonstrators overran New York’s Trump Tower Thursday in support of the Palestinians and detained Palestinian student campaigner Mahmoud Khalil.

They protested for over an hour at the Manhattan landmark where Trump memorably rode down a golden escalator in 2015 to announce his first run for president, revealing matching red T-shirts emblazoned “Jews say stop arming Israel.”

Police said they arrested 98 people, marching under the banner of the group called Jewish Voice for Peace, for crimes including trespassing.

The group, which apparently caught security and police off guard, chanted “fight Nazis, not students,” a reference to Trump’s crackdown on foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian protests.

Police loaded detained protesters onto buses, including a repurposed city bus, in front of the Gucci store at the foot of the tower as a helicopter and drone flew overheard.

Officers arrested Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil at the weekend, accusing him of harboring pro-Hamas views during protests at New York’s Columbia University against Israel’s war in Gaza in retaliation for the Palestinian group’s attack in Israel.

He is currently detained and facing deportation for allegedly undermining US foreign policy — a case critics say is chilling for free speech.

Filmmaker and Columbia Professor James Schamus told AFP “New York Jews are coming out to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil and demand that our Jewishness not be weaponized to steal the rights of American citizens and to end our democracy.”

“The Trump-Musk regime has made it clear that they are not charging Mahmoud Khalil with any crime, that they are accusing him of having opinions that they say ‘align with Hamas’,” he added ahead of the protest action.

Confused tourists visiting the gold and pink marble decorated skyscraper took pictures and milled around as police attempted to clear protesters, with an officer delivering a large box of MaxCuff plastic cable ties.

“It was suspicious when all these people came in and none went to the restaurant,” said a Trump Tower employee who declined to be named.

Police Chief John Chell said the protest passed off without injuries or damage and that the atrium had been cleared of protesters within two hours.

“As Jews of conscience, we know our history and we know where this leads. This is what fascists do as they cement control” said Jewish Voice for Peace member Jane Hirschmann, a Jewish New Yorker whose grandfather and uncle were abducted by the Nazis.