APPROACHED HER ON HER WAY TO MEET FRIENDS. RUMAISA OZTURK IS STOPPED BY A GROUP, PRESUMABLY FEDERAL AGENTS. THEY DO NOT APPEAR TO WEAR IDENTIFYING GEAR, AND SOME ARE MASKED. OZTURK IS TAKEN AWAY, HER HANDS BOUND. YOU DON’T NEED TO, LIKE, RUSH HER. WITH A MILLION AGENTS. THE MAN WHOSE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO CAPTURED THE INCIDENT DOES NOT WANT TO BE IDENTIFIED. DEVASTATING. LIKE, WHY ARE THEY TARGETING THE PEOPLE THEY’RE TARGETING? THESE AREN’T LIKE THAT. THAT WOMAN WAS HARMLESS. THE 30 YEAR OLD IS A GRAD STUDENT WITH TUFTS UNIVERSITY. HER ATTORNEY SAYS SHE’S A TURKISH NATIONAL IN THE U.S. WITH A VALID STUDENT VISA. ONE ONE YEAR AGO. OZTURK COAUTHORED AN OP ED IN THE TUFTS DAILY CALLING ON THE UNIVERSITY TO DIVEST FROM ISRAEL AND TO CALL THE WAR IN GAZA GENOCIDE. WE HAD NOTICED THAT THE CAR WAS ON ALMOST ALL DAY. DEEPAK NOCKER LIVES NEAR WHERE THE STUDENT WAS TAKEN. HE RECALLS A BLACK SUV RUNNING IDLE FOR TWO DAYS. THE MAN INSIDE CLAIMING TO BE FROM POLICE. HE WAS ALSO HERE BLOCKING OUR DRIVEWAY. SO WHEN WE WERE LEAVING IN THE MORNING, MY WIFE ASKED HIM TO, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? AND HE SAID HE’S FROM THE POLICE. AND NOT TO WORRY, WE’RE ALL SAFE. NOCKER LIKE OTHERS IN THE SOMERVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD, ARE DEEPLY TROUBLED BY WHAT HAPPENED. AND IF THIS KIND OF THING HAPPENS TO POTENTIALLY SOMEBODY WHO MAY NOT BE A CITIZEN, IT’S ONLY A SMALL STEP FOR THAT TO THEN PROGRESS TO CITIZENS BEING CENSORED LIKE THIS. NOW, AT THIS POINT, THE STUDENT’S ATTORNEY PETITIONED A JUDGE AND THAT FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERED THAT THE STUDENT BE REMAIN IN THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. BUT AGAIN, IT IS UNCLEAR EXACTLY WHERE SHE IS BEING HELD AND JUST NOW FEDERAL AUTHORITIES HAVE POSTED TO X THAT OZTURK. AND I’M QUOTING HERE IN THE POST, 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. SO AGAIN THIS IS BREAKING NEWS. THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SAYING THAT THEY DETAINED THIS TUFTS UNIVERSITY STUDENT BECAUSE SHE WAS SUPPORTING HAMAS. AGAI
Tufts University international graduate student detained by federal agents
Updated: 7:04 PM EDT Mar 26, 2025
An international Tufts University graduate student was detained Tuesday by federal agents in Somerville, Massachusetts. A representative of the Department of Homeland Security said the student “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.”Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, a Turkish national who was maintaining a valid F-1 status, was detained near her home as she left to meet with friends to break her Ramadan fast, according to her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai.A video of her detainment shared with WCVB shows three agents getting out of a parked SUV and approaching Ozturk as two other agents join and take the woman into custody.”We 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,” Khanbabai said.Ozturk is currently being held in Louisiana, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s website.Tufts said it was told the student’s visa status was terminated, and the university is now working to confirm that information.”The university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event, and the location where this took place is not affiliated with Tufts University,” University President Sunil Kumar said in a statement.Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said Wednesday that “Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas.””DHS + ICE 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,” she posted on social media. “Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security.”Meanwhile, the university is working to learn more about the circumstances of why the student was apprehended and will connect them with external legal resources if the student requests assistance, the school said.Video below: Surveillance shows Tufts graduate student detainedOrganizers of the Palestinian Youth Movement are calling for an “emergency rally” Wednesday evening for Ozturk.Additionally, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued an order Tuesday giving immigration officials until Friday to respond to a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Ozturk case. The judge also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside of Massachusetts without at least 48 hours of advance notice to the court. Ozturk was among the authors of an op-ed for The Tufts Daily last year. It called for the university to acknowledge genocide in Palestine and divest from companies with ties to Israel. Tufts was the site of a pro-Palestine protest encampment last year, which was removed in May after a student group said its negotiations with the administration failed. Tufts said it has established rules for working with government agencies on unannounced visits, and students and staff should call Tufts police if they see any federal activity.Over a thousand people gathered in a Powder House Square Park rally Wednesday evening in support of Ozturk.
MEDFORD, Mass. —An international Tufts University graduate student was detained Tuesday by federal agents in Somerville, Massachusetts. A representative of the Department of Homeland Security said the student “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.”
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, a Turkish national who was maintaining a valid F-1 status, was detained near her home as she left to meet with friends to break her Ramadan fast, according to her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai.
A video of her detainment shared with WCVB shows three agents getting out of a parked SUV and approaching Ozturk as two other agents join and take the woman into custody.
“We 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,” Khanbabai said.
Ozturk is currently being held in Louisiana, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s website.
Tufts said it was told the student’s visa status was terminated, and the university is now working to confirm that information.
“The university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event, and the location where this took place is not affiliated with Tufts University,” University President Sunil Kumar said in a statement.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said Wednesday that “Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas.”
“DHS + ICE 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,” she posted on social media. “Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security.”
Meanwhile, the university is working to learn more about the circumstances of why the student was apprehended and will connect them with external legal resources if the student requests assistance, the school said.
Video below: Surveillance shows Tufts graduate student detained
Organizers of the Palestinian Youth Movement are calling for an “emergency rally” Wednesday evening for Ozturk.
Additionally, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued an order Tuesday giving immigration officials until Friday to respond to a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Ozturk case.
The judge also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside of Massachusetts without at least 48 hours of advance notice to the court.
Ozturk was among the authors of an op-ed for The Tufts Daily last year. It called for the university to acknowledge genocide in Palestine and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Tufts was the site of a pro-Palestine protest encampment last year, which was removed in May after a student group said its negotiations with the administration failed.
Tufts said it has established rules for working with government agencies on unannounced visits, and students and staff should call Tufts police if they see any federal activity.
Over a thousand people gathered in a Powder House Square Park rally Wednesday evening in support of Ozturk.
