FLASH NEWS
Video that is shocking the US/ Turkish student was arrested on the street by ICE agents, had pro-Palestine views
2025-03-27 20:35:58 / BOTA
As the sun began to set over Somerville, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, visa-exempt Turkish citizen Rumeysa Ozturk was on her way to meet friends for an Iftar dinner, where they would break the Ramadan fast.
But she was unable to make it to the dinner after being arrested by immigration officers near her apartment, adjacent to the campus of Tufts University in Somerville, where she was a doctoral student, her lawyer Khanbabai told CNN.
A shocking video shows six plainclothes officers with their faces covered, surrounding Ozturk as she walks alone. The officers only showed their marks as she was restrained with her hands behind her back.
The video released Wednesday and taken by a neighbor from the Muslim Justice League advocacy group shows six plainclothes officers calmly approaching as Ozturk walks alone on the sidewalk.
An officer, wearing a hat and hood, grabs him by the hands, causing Ozturk to burst into screams of fear, while another pulls out a badge hidden on a lanyard and confiscates his cellphone.
Ozturk "has participated in activities in support of Hamas," a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said in a statement Wednesday. The spokesman did not specify what those alleged activities were.
Ozturk was enrolled in a doctoral program at Tufts University on a valid F-1 visa, which allows international students to pursue full-time academic studies, according to Khanbabaï.
In March 2024, Ozturk co-wrote an editorial in the school newspaper criticizing Tufts University's response to the pro-Palestinian movement.
Tufts University representatives said the school had no prior knowledge of the arrest.
In an updated statement sent late Wednesday, which included additional guidance and resources for international students, Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said he shared the concerns of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, calling the video of Ozturk's arrest "disturbing."
“We know how frightening and distressing this situation is for her, her loved ones, and the broader community here at Tufts, especially our international students, staff, and faculty, who may feel vulnerable or distressed by these events,” Kumar added.
The university is in contact with local, state and federal elected officials and “hopes that Rumeysa will have the opportunity to exercise her due process rights,” he said.
A State Department spokesman declined to comment on the details of the case.
"Due to privacy and other considerations, and the confidentiality of visas, we generally will not comment on the Department's actions regarding specific cases," a State Department spokesperson told CNN.
After being detained on Tuesday, Ozturk's lawyer filed a petition in federal district court in Boston, challenging the legality of her detention and asking that she not be transferred out of the Massachusetts district.
“(Ozturk) shall not be transferred out of the District of Massachusetts without advanced notice of the intended move,” U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, wrote in an order Tuesday. Talwani ordered the government to respond to Ozturk’s petition by Friday.
But on Wednesday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said she had been transferred to the ICE Central Louisiana Processing Center in Basile.
It is not clear whether Ozturk had already been transferred out of Boston to Louisiana by the time Judge Talwani issued her order.
Ozturk is now the third international student to be transferred to Louisiana after being detained by federal officers. Khalil and fellow Georgetown student Badar Khan Suri were both transferred to an ICE detention facility in Jena.
"Like all other immigration cases involving international students and activists who have spoken out about crimes in Palestine, the government makes baseless accusations but provides no evidence," Khanbabai said. "We hope Rumeysa is released immediately."
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