WASHINGTON Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday slammed the "illegal" US detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. "No, Mr. President, you cannot illegally arrest and detain legal US residents because of their political views or opinions. In America, we have a little something called the First Amendment," Sanders wrote on X, referring to the section of the Constitution protecting freedom of speech. "Throwing protesters in jail is yet another step on the path to authoritarianism,” he added.