Tufts College graduate scholar Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Turkish nationwide, is being held in Louisiana, almost two days after she was detained by federal immigration brokers in Massachusetts.
Surveillance video reveals Division of Homeland Safety officers arresting Ozturk Tuesday night outdoors her off-campus condominium in Somerville. She was surrounded by six ICE brokers as she was strolling to the college’s interfaith heart to interrupt the Ramadan quick at an Iftar dinner with mates.
Surveillance video reveals Tufts College scholar Rumeysa Ozturk apprehended in Somerville, MA, on March 25.
CBS Boston
Ozturk was capable of briefly communicate together with her lawyer by phone from Louisiana, in keeping with court docket paperwork filed on Thursday.
Tufts scholar detained by ICE
Within the video, an agent is seen taking her cellphone out of Ozturk’s arms earlier than she is handcuffed. The officers had been in plain garments, sporting masks and driving unmarked vehicles. A neighbor may be heard within the recording asking, “Is that this a kidnapping?”
Homeland Safety has accused Ozturk of being pro-Hamas and stated that her visa had been terminated. Her mates say she’s being punished for co-authoring an op-ed within the Tufts Every day campus newspaper final yr, calling on Tufts to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and divest from Israel. There was no point out of Hamas.
Tufts College President Sunil Kumar referred to as the video of Ozturk’s arrest “disturbing” in an e-mail to campus Wednesday night time.
“We’re in contact with native, state, and federal elected officers and hope that Rumeysa is offered the chance to avail herself of her due course of rights. The college is actively working to assist the Tufts neighborhood because it mobilizes its collective sources and contacts to make sure our college students’ security and wellbeing,” Kumar stated.
Ozturk’s lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, stated there have been no fees filed towards her shopper.
On Tuesday night time, a federal choose had ordered legislation enforcement to not transfer Ozturk out of Massachusetts with out two days’ discover. However she was moved to an ICE processing heart in Louisiana, greater than a thousand miles away, Homeland Safety stated Wednesday.
A whole bunch of individuals protested the arrest at a rally at a park close to campus in Somerville Wednesday night time.
Rumeysa Ozturk
Reyyan Bilge, a psychology professor at Northeastern College in Boston, is Ozturk’s pal and had her as a scholar in Turkey. Bilge stated she’s identified Ozturk for a number of years and referred to as the accusations “baseless” and “libelous.”
“It is so surreal and heartbreaking,” Bilge stated. “She has by no means talked about Hamas, not to mention being both anti-Semitic or being anti something.”
Tom Hanson
contributed to this report.
Extra from CBS Information
Mike Toole