New documents entered in a New Jersey court show that the federal government defended its warrantless arrest of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil by saying agents feared he'd flee because he said he would leave the scene. The American Civil Liberties Union contested the claim, stating that video evidence and previous accounts of the arrest contradict the government's assertion. Khalil is a legal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during demonstrations against Israel's treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza.