Rumeysa Ozturka was arrested by federal agents on Tuesday.
A Turkish student arrested by masked US immigration agents in Boston is the latest Palestinian supporter to be detained for expressing political beliefs in a crackdown by Donald Trump's administration.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, a PHD student at Tufts University was arrested near her home in Summerville by federal agents on Tuesday.
Before a judge ordered for her to be kept in the state of Massachusetts, she was moved to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centre in Basile, Louisiana, government lawyers said.
No formal charges have been filed against Ozturk according to her lawyer, Masha Khanbabai who has filed a petition challenging the legality of her detention.
Video footage of the arrest shows plainclothes agents wearing masks and sunglasses to hide their faces. Credit: AP
CCTV footage showed six masked plainclothes officers surround Ozturk in the street where she was restrained.
The video showed the officers did not show their badges until she was restrained, when a bystander was heard asking the officers why they were hiding their faces.
Ozturk, who is Muslim, was meeting friends for iftar, a meal that breaks a fast at sunset during Ramadan, according to Khanbabai.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Ozturk had been detained and that her visa had been revoked after an investigation found she had "engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organisation that relishes the killing of Americans".
The department did not give evidence of Ozturk's support for Hamas.
Who is Rumeysa Ozturk?
Ozturk wrote an op-ed in the university newspaper asking the college to cut ties with Israel linked companies. Credit: AP
Ozturk was enrolled in a PhD program at Tufts University on a valid F-1 visa, which allows international students to pursue full-time academic studies.
In March 2024, Ozturk cowrote an op-ed in the school’s newspaper in which called for the university to move away from companies with ties to Israel because of the conflict in Gaza.
The op-ed wrote: "Credible accusations against Israel include accounts of deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausible genocide."
After the op-ed was published, Ozturk’s name, photograph and work history were published on the website, Canary Mission, which describes itself as documenting people who "promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses".
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: "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 vandalising universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus - we’re not going to give you a visa."
Mahmoud Khalil was arrested outside his apartment near Columbia University in March. Credit: AP
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Ozturk is one of a number of foreign nationals attending prestigious American universities to be arrested for alleged activities related to terror organisations amid the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.
They include Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist detained by authorities earlier this month outside his Columbia University apartment and Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian student from the University of Alabama.
US District Judge Indira Talwani initially issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Ozturk was being detained.
Talwani also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside the District of Massachusetts without 48 hours advance notice.
What have her friends and family said?
Friends and family of Ozturk have voiced their anger at her arrest. Credit: AP
Ozturk’s brother, Asim, said he believes she is being targeted 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 Ozturk wrote in a statement on X.
"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."
Friends of Ozturk said she was not closely involved in pro-Palestinian protests that broke out on campuses last spring, adding that her only known activism was co-authoring the op-ed.
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"To my knowledge, the only thing I know of that Rumeysa organised was a Thanksgiving potluck," said Jennifer Hoyden, a close friend of Ozturk's.
In response to Oztuk's arrest, Tufts President Sunil Kumar said in a statement that the university "did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event" and that "the location where this took place is not affiliated with Tufts University".
Kumar also shared the concerns of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in calling the video of Ozturk’s arrest "disturbing".
What has been the reaction from students?
Students protested for Ozturk to be released on Wednesday evening. Credit: AP
Hundreds protested Ozturk’s detention Wednesday night at a park on the edge of the Tufts’ campus,
"The fact that someone can just be disappeared into the abyss for voicing an idea is absolutely horrifying," rally attendee Sam Wachman said.
"It’s important that we all remember what she wrote about and why she was targeted, which is Palestine," Lea Kayali, from the Palestinian Youth Movement, told the crowd.
"It’s important for us to remember that this is not new for immigrant communities, and this is not new for Palestinians," she added.
"The US government is deliberately trying to target our movement and scare us into silence. But we will not be silenced."
The Turkish government said it is monitoring the case and staying in touch with Ozturk’s family.
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