Rumeysa Ozturk: A PhD student was snatched by masked officers in broad daylight. Then she was flown 1,500 miles away

CNN
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Tufts College PhD scholar Rumeysa Ozturk was strolling alone Tuesday night time to satisfy buddies at a dinner the place they’d break their 13-hour Ramadan quick when six plainclothes officers instantly encircled her on the road close to her residence in Somerville, Massachusetts, surveillance video reveals.

The 30-year-old shrieked in worry when an officer in a hooded sweatshirt and hat grabbed her by the wrists as one other pulled out a hid badge on a lanyard and confiscated her mobile phone.

Quickly afterward, the swarm of officers who had surrounded her on the sidewalk pulled material coverings over their mouths and noses, a few of them sporting sun shades.

“We’re the police,” the officers stated.

“Yeah, you don’t look like it. Why are you hiding your faces?” an individual not seen within the video will be heard responding.

The masked officers handcuffed Ozturk and held onto every of her arms, the video reveals.

One minute after the encounter started, Ozturk was led into an SUV and pushed away.

The worldwide scholar – who’s initially from Turkey and on a sound F-1 scholar visa – was then pushed “across multiple states,” together with a number of authorities places of work in New England, Ozturk’s authorized crew stated.

The subsequent morning, she was flown greater than 1,500 miles away from her dwelling to a staging facility in Alexandria, Louisiana – regardless of a courtroom order about six hours after her arrest that Ozturk not be moved outdoors Massachusetts with out 48 hours’ discover.

Whereas in transit to Louisiana, Ozturk suffered from an bronchial asthma assault, based on an amended habeas corpus petition filed Friday. All through that time period, Ozturk was not charged or given the chance to talk with a lawyer, based on the spokesperson.

Then, she ultimately ended up on the South Louisiana ICE Processing Heart in Basile, Louisiana.

Ozturk is one in all a number of worldwide college college students dealing with deportation following a Trump administration order to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on school campuses.

The arrests of students and college students by the hands of masked legislation enforcement officers – who’ve taken them into custody by ambushing them on metropolis streets and close to their properties – have despatched a chill throughout the worldwide scholar neighborhood.

After Ozturk’s arrest, a Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson stated she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas” in a Wednesday assertion, with out specifying what these alleged actions have been. Her legal professionals say she is unfairly being punished for talking out in favor of Palestinian rights.

Whereas a choose has since halted her deportation, Ozturk’s legal professionals proceed to combat for her launch.

After she by no means made it to the Iftar gathering, Ozturk’s buddies frantically looked for her.

As a result of she has bronchial asthma, her family members fearful she had turn into in poor health with out entry to her treatment. Fearing she may’ve had a medical episode, her legal professionals contacted native hospitals, the submitting stated.

On Tuesday night and Wednesday, her legal professionals labored to find Ozturk. They referred to as ICE places of work and ICE detention services in New England to no avail, the petition stated. ICE’s on-line detainee locator system indicated Ozturk was in custody however the detention facility subject remained clean.

A consultant of the Turkish consulate went to ICE places of work in Burlington, Massachusetts, and was knowledgeable that Ozturk was not in that workplace and ICE couldn’t present additional details about her whereabouts, based on the petition. Division of Justice counsel additionally knowledgeable Ozturk’s legal professionals that they may not find her, the petition says.

Her buddies, household and attorneys remained unable to find or contact her for about 24 hours after her arrest, the petition stated.

Lastly, Ozturk’s legal professionals have been capable of converse to her on Wednesday night.

No expenses have been filed towards Ozturk, her legal professional instructed CNN. Ozturk’s visa was revoked on March 21 however she was not notified till she acquired a discover to look from ICE after her arrest, the petition says.

On Friday, a federal choose in Boston issued an order to cease Ozturk from being deported.

Ozturk had about 10 months left to finish her doctorate in baby examine and human growth at Tufts College, her brother Asim Ozturk stated in a press release. She had been finding out within the US since 2018, having acquired a grasp’s diploma from Columbia College on a Fulbright scholarship, based on her legal professionals.

“Rümeysa’s arrest and detention are designed to punish her speech and chill the speech of others,” the petition stated. “Indeed, her arrest and detention are part of a concerted and systemic effort by Trump administration officials to punish students and others identified with pro-Palestine activism.”

On March 26, 2024, Ozturk cowrote an op-ed in the school’s newspaper through which she criticized Tufts’ response to a scholar authorities group’s name for the college to divest from firms with ties to Israel due to the battle in Gaza, amongst different calls for.

“Credible accusations against Israel include accounts of deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausible genocide,” the op-ed says.

Requested about Ozturk’s case and op-ed Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio recommended with out proof she was concerned in disruptive scholar protests over Israel’s battle in Gaza.

“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio stated.

Rubio “determined” Ozturk’s alleged actions would have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Division of Homeland Safety, instructed CNN Thursday.

She declined to supply particulars about Ozturk’s alleged actions or how they may pose antagonistic penalties to US international coverage.

Ozturk’s household believes she is being focused for her beliefs.

“Apart from expressing her opinion within the framework of freedom of expression without engaging in any provocative or aggressive action regarding the Palestine issue, she has not taken any action,” Asim stated. “It seems that she has been subjected to the activities of ICE, which has been on a witch hunt in the post-Trump period, against those who support Palestine.”

In the meantime, the video of Ozturk’s arrest has sparked widespread outrage. Lots of protested Ozturk’s detention Wednesday night time at a park on the sting of the Tufts’ campus, CNN affiliate WBZ reported.

“The fact that someone can just be disappeared into the abyss for voicing an idea is absolutely horrifying,” rally attendee Sam Wachman instructed WBZ.

Tufts President Sunil Kumar stated he shared the issues of Massachusetts Legal professional Common Andrea Pleasure Campbell and referred to as the video of Ozturk’s arrest “disturbing.”

“We recognize how frightening and distressing this situation is for (Ozturk), her loved ones, and the larger community here at Tufts, especially our international students, staff, and faculty who may be feeling vulnerable or unsettled by these events,” Kumar stated in a press release late Wednesday.

After Ozturk was detained, her legal professionals filed a petition in federal district courtroom in Boston difficult the legality of her detention and asking she not be moved out of Massachusetts. District Choose Indira Talwani granted their request Tuesday that she not be moved out of state “without first providing advance notice.”

However Ozturk had already been taken outdoors Massachusetts when federal officers bought the courtroom’s order, authorities legal professional Mark Sauter stated in a courtroom submitting Thursday morning.

Her legal professionals allege that ICE did not notify them, the courtroom and DOJ legal professionals that she was being taken to Louisiana previous to that switch, despite the fact that the Massachusetts courtroom had entered the order requiring notification.

Her attorneys on Friday requested a federal courtroom in Massachusetts to say jurisdiction over her case, launch her on bail because the litigation strikes ahead and restore her F-1 scholar visa.

“The government has adopted a policy of targeting noncitizens for arrest, detention and removal based on First Amendment-protected speech advocating for Palestinian rights,” the Friday petition stated.

Ozturk is about to face an preliminary listening to in removing proceedings on April 7 in Louisiana, based on the petition. The federal government can also be required to answer the parallel petition difficult her detention no later than April 1.

Choose Denise Casper, who blocked Ozturk’s deportation, wrote in her Friday order that the PhD scholar “shall not be removed from the United States until further order from this court.” Casper’s order directs immigration authorities to cease deportation proceedings towards Ozturk till she will be able to determine whether or not the Boston courtroom has jurisdiction to determine if Ozturk was lawfully detained.

Ozturk’s legal professionals praised Casper’s resolution Friday.

“This is a first step in getting Rumeysa released and back home to Boston so she can continue her studies,” lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai stated in a press release. “But we never should have gotten here in the first place: Rumeysa’s experience is shocking, cruel, and unconstitutional.”