Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk held by ICE in Louisiana, protesters demand release
Hundreds of people gathered at Powder House Park on Wednesday, to demand the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish PHD student at Tufts University, who was arrested by federal agents Tuesday night.
The 30-year-old graduate student and Fulbright Scholar was detained Tuesday by federal agents in Somerville. A representative of the Department of Homeland Security said the student "engaged in activities in support of Hamas." She's now being held at an ICE Detention Center in Central Louisiana.
"The university campus should absolutely be a place for the free and open exchange of ideas and the fact that someone can just be disappeared into the abyss for voicing an idea is absolutely horrifying," said rally attendee Sam Wachman.
Detained on Somerville sidewalk
A neighbor's surveillance video showed the moments Ozturk was cornered by about six plain clothes ICE agents on her Somerville sidewalk, then handcuffed and taken away.
City leaders in neighboring Medford, where the university is located, joined the rally after seeing the video.
"This is the exactly the wrong thing for America. This is the wrong thing for Medford. I know it's not what our community stands for and I think we need to really see robust action from the state government here in Massachusetts to say that we're not going to let this happen here," said Medford City Council president Zac Bears.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security say DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities supporting Hamas. "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 commonsense security," said a DHS spokesperson.
Ozturk wrote op-ed in Tufts Daily
It comes as the Trump administration is cracking down on college students who've voiced support for the pro-Palestinian movement. Rally organizers say last year Ozturk helped write an op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the university to acknowledge genocide in Palestine and separate from companies with ties to Israel.
"This should be a safe haven for international students," said Wachman. "Boston is a hub of international thought and it's known for its universities and if the Trump administration is going to essentially kneecap Boston by making international students feel unsafe here, I mean that's something we can't just sit back and watch."
"What they're saying, and reality have no bearing, they'll just say anything as long as they get the result which they want which is to create an environment of fear," said rally attendee David Fleig. "There's no respect for the law there's no respect for diversity, there's no respect for our Bill of Rights- where is it going to end?"
Ozturk's attorney says no charges have been filed against her.
The attorney also filed a writ of habeas corpus petition to get Ozturk released, and the judge has given immigration officials until Friday to respond.
