Turkish student at Tufts University detained, video shows masked people handcuffing her
A Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts University has been detained by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents without explanation, her lawyer said Wednesday.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, had just left her home in Somerville on Tuesday night when she was stopped, lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai said in a petition filed in Boston federal court.
Video obtained by The Associated Press appears to show six people, their faces covered, taking away Ozturk's phone as she yells and is handcuffed.
바카라 게임 웹사이트We바카라 게임 웹사이트re the police,바카라 게임 웹사이트 members of the group are heard saying in the video.
A man is heard asking, 바카라 게임 웹사이트Why are you hiding your faces?바카라 게임 웹사이트
Khanbabai said Ozturk, who is Muslim, was meeting friends for iftar, a meal that breaks a fast at sunset .
바카라 게임 웹사이트We are unaware of her whereabouts and have not been able to contact her. No charges have been filed against Rumeysa to date that we are aware of,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Khanbabai said in a statement. Ozturk has a visa allowing her to study in the United States, Khanbabai said.
바카라 게임 웹사이트This isn바카라 게임 웹사이트t public safety, it's intimidation'
Neighbors said they were rattled by the arrest, which happened at 5:30 p.m. on a residential block.
바카라 게임 웹사이트It looked like a kidnapping,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Michael Mathis, a 32-year-old software engineer whose surveillance camera captured the arrest. 바카라 게임 웹사이트They approach her and start grabbing her with their faces covered. They바카라 게임 웹사이트re covering their faces. They바카라 게임 웹사이트re in unmarked vehicles.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said in a statement that the school learned that authorities detained an international graduate student and the student's visa had been terminated.
바카라 게임 웹사이트The university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Kumar said.
Kumar did not name the student, but university spokesperson Patrick Collins confirmed that Ozturk is a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley called the arrest 바카라 게임 웹사이트a horrifying violation of Rumeysa바카라 게임 웹사이트s constitutional rights to due process and free speech.바카라 게임 웹사이트
"She must be immediately released,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Pressley said in a statement. 바카라 게임 웹사이트We won바카라 게임 웹사이트t stand by while the Trump Administration continues to abduct students with legal status and attack our fundamental freedoms.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell called the video 바카라 게임 웹사이트disturbing.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트Based on what we now know, it is alarming that the federal administration chose to ambush and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding individual because of her political views,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트This isn바카라 게임 웹사이트t public safety, it바카라 게임 웹사이트s intimidation that will, and should, be closely scrutinized in court.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Court says not to remove Ozturk from the state, but she is listed as being held in Louisiana
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Ozturk was being detained. Talwani also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside the District of Massachusetts without 48 hours advance notice.
But as of Wednesday evening, the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement바카라 게임 웹사이트s online detainee locator system listed her as being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana.
A senior DHS spokesperson confirmed Ozturk's detention and the termination of her visa.
바카라 게임 웹사이트DHS and (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans. A visa is a privilege, not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is common sense security,바카라 게임 웹사이트 the spokesperson told the AP.
Ozturk cowrote article criticizing university response to Palestinian issues
Ozturk was one of four students last March who wrote an op-ed in The Tufts Daily criticizing the university's response to its community union Senate passing resolutions that demanded Tufts 바카라 게임 웹사이트acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,바카라 게임 웹사이트 disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
Friends said Ozturk was not otherwise closely involved in protests against Israel. But after the piece was published, her name, photo and work history were featured by Canary Mission, a website that says it documents people who 바카라 게임 웹사이트promote hatred of the U.S.A., Israel and Jews on North American college campuses.바카라 게임 웹사이트 The op-ed was the only cited example of 바카라 게임 웹사이트anti-Israel activism바카라 게임 웹사이트 by Ozturk.
Students and faculty elsewhere also have recently had visas revoked or been blocked from entering the U.S. because they or . President 's administration has cited a seldom-invoked statute authorizing the secretary of state to revoke visas of noncitizens who could be considered a threat to foreign policy interests.
Supporters rally in Somerville
Hundreds of people demonstrated in a park later Wednesday, with speaker after speaker demanding her release and accusing both major political parties of failing to protect immigrants and stand up for Palestinians.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Free Rumeysa Ozturk now,바카라 게임 웹사이트 the crowd chanted, along with traditional protest slogans such as 바카라 게임 웹사이트Free, free Palestine.바카라 게임 웹사이트 Many held Palestinian flags and homemade signs supporting her and opposing ICE.
Zoi Andalcio, a Somerville business owner, said he came out with his wife and 3-year-old son to speak against the 바카라 게임 웹사이트maddening바카라 게임 웹사이트 arrest of Ozturk and others.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I바카라 게임 웹사이트m outraged like everybody else about these disappearances, kidnappings of legal noncitizens, who may or may not have spoken out against the atrocious foreign policy of the United States government,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Andalcio said.
Roz Nazzaro, who held a sign that read 바카라 게임 웹사이트Hands Off,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said she fears the country is heading into an era of 바카라 게임 웹사이트Nazism바카라 게임 웹사이트 in which just disappear.
바카라 게임 웹사이트There is no distinction between undocumented immigrants, documented immigrants, green cards,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Nazzaro, a retired college administrator from Winchester, Massachusetts. 바카라 게임 웹사이트It바카라 게임 웹사이트s going to be the citizens next, if you바카라 게임 웹사이트re the wrong color, wear a hijab.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트She바카라 게임 웹사이트s never spoken badly to anyone바카라 게임 웹사이트
Before attending Tufts, Ozturk obtained a master바카라 게임 웹사이트s from the Developmental Psychology program at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York, according to an alumni spotlight article in 2021.
Reyyan Bilge, a psychology professor at Northeastern University and friend, described Ozturk as a 바카라 게임 웹사이트soft spoken, kind and gentle soul,바카라 게임 웹사이트 deeply focused on research and not closely involved in the campus protests.
The two first met at Istanbul Sehir University, where Bilge supervised her thesis, before working on cognitive research and publishing papers together. They remained close after Ozturk arrived in the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2018.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Over the 10 years I바카라 게임 웹사이트ve known her, she바카라 게임 웹사이트s never spoken badly to anyone else, let alone being antisemitic or racist,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Bilge said.
Turkish diplomats contact State Department and ICE
The Turkish Embassy in Washington said it was keeping in regular contact with Ozturk바카라 게임 웹사이트s family, monitoring the situation closely and engaged in 바카라 게임 웹사이트initiatives바카라 게임 웹사이트 with the State Department and ICE.
It added in a statement on the social platform X that it was making 바카라 게임 웹사이트every effort바카라 게임 웹사이트 to provide consular services and legal support to protect its citizens' rights.
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Offenhartz reported from New York, and McCormack from Concord, New Hampshire. Robert Badendieck in Istanbul contributed.