Boston (AP) – Tufts University’s Turkish National and PhD Student Attorney US Department of Homeland Security The agent filed an emergency motion on Thursday, demanding that the government give birth to her.
The request came the day after 30-year-old Rumeysa Ozturk was stopped by a masked federal agent after he left his home in Somerville, Massachusetts. The federal judge who will preside over her case ordered an attorney representing the government to respond to the claim Thursday morning.
The video obtained by the Associated Press shows six people covered and snatched Ozturk’s phone while screaming and handcuffing Wednesday, appearing to be covered.
“We are the police,” a group member can be heard saying on the video.
A bystander asks, “Why are you hiding your face?”
US District Judge Indira Talwani was the first to issue an order to give the government until Friday to answer the reasons why Ozturk is in custody. Talwani also ordered Oztalc not to move outside the Massachusetts area without prior notice.
U.S. immigration and practice enforcement said Thursday that Ozturk was in custody at a detention center in Basil, Louisiana, and spoke with her attorney. A senior office of the Department of Homeland Security spokesman confirmed Ozturk’s detention and the termination of her visa.
“DHS and (immigration and customs enforcement) investigations found that Ozturk is engaged in activities in favor of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that enjoys the murder of Americans. Visas are a privilege, not a right.
The DHS did not provide an example of Ozturk’s support for Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US government.
The arrest appears to be part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport students. He will work in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitism, anti-American activities,” and apply it widely to those who criticize Israel and protest against military campaigns in Gaza.
Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. Israeli retaliatory attacks have killed more than 50,000 people and destroyed many of the enclaves, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Ozturk, a Muslim, met a friend of Iftar, a meal that breaks fasting at sunset. During Ramadansaid her lawyer, Mahsa Kambabai.
She said no charges against Oztalc have been filed.
“We hope to be in touch with elected local, state and federal officials and provide Rumeysa with the opportunity to exploit her legitimate process rights,” Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said in a statement Wednesday night. “The University is actively working to support the Tufts community to mobilize collective resources and contacts to ensure the safety and well-being of its students.”
Ozturk was one of four students last March, writing OP-ED for Tufts, which criticised the university’s response to students “acknowledging the Palestinian genocide,” disclosing investments from companies with direct or indirect ties with Israel and demanding that they be sold from companies.
After the OP-ED was published, Ozturk’s name, photographs and work history were published on the website Canary Mission, a website that describes “they record “Israel” and Jewish promotion people on US, Israel and Jewish campuses.
Friends of Ozuruk says she didn’t play a prominent role in the campus protests that erupted against Israeli forces in Gaza last spring.
“They’re a great opportunity to learn more about Ozturk,” said Jennifer Huyden, a former classmate of Ozturk at Columbia University’s Teacher College.
“She came to this country to expand her knowledge and contribute to a peaceful society,” added Huyden. “I can’t stress enough how peaceful, kind and kind she is as a human being.”
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