Rumeysa Ozturk speaks out through her attorneys after lawyers spar in court
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A Turkish doctoral student who was grabbed off the street by plain-clothes federal agents in apparent retaliation for her op-ed criticizing Israel says her arrest and ongoing detention won’t stop her from speaking out.
Tufts University’s PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk — among several international students targeted for removal from the country for their Palestinian advocacy — remains in detention in a Louisiana facility while her lawyers argue in court for her release. She has not been accused of a crime, and the government’s only apparent evidence against her is an op-ed in a student newspaper.
Attempts from Donald Trump’s administration to keep her in custody “will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children,” she said in a statement through her attorney on Thursday.
Last year, Ozturk co-authored an op-ed in The Tufts Daily newspaper calling on the university to divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel in an effort to hold Israel accountable “for clear violations of international law.”
“Credible accusations against Israel include accounts of deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausible genocide,” says the op-ed, which was written with three other students and endorsed by 32 others.
Ozturk is working towards her doctorate at the Eliot-Pearson Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She received her master’s degree in developmental psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University, where she was a Fulbright scholar.
Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested by ICE agents in apparent retaliation for her op-ed in a student newspaper criticizing Israelopen image in gallery
Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested by ICE agents in apparent retaliation for her op-ed in a student newspaper criticizing Israel (via REUTERS)
“We know that injustice in the world and systemic brutality towards people of color has long-lasting negative effects on children, youth, and other communities,” she said in her statement.
“My life is committed to choosing peaceful and inclusive ways to meet the needs of children,” she added. “I believe the world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room. Writing is one of the most peaceful ways of addressing systemic inequality.”
“Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children,” Ozturk said.
Protesters gather outside federal court in Boston on April 3 during a hearing with lawyers for Rumeysa Ozturk and other student activists targeted by the Trump administrationopen image in gallery
Protesters gather outside federal court in Boston on April 3 during a hearing with lawyers for Rumeysa Ozturk and other student activists targeted by the Trump administration (AP)
Her statement followed a court hearing in Boston, where a federal judge is considering whether to transfer jurisdiction of her case to Massachusetts.
Ozturk’s family, friends and attorneys did not know where she was being held for nearly 24 hours after her arrest. Attorneys argue that federal authorities appears to have deliberately shuffled her around to keep her whereabouts secret.
Following her arrest, a federal judge ordered that Ozturk cannot be moved outside the state without at least 48 hours of advance notice to the court. But the day after her arrest, she was in a detention center in Louisiana.
The government chose to “ignore the order” after “secretly whisking her away and making sure no one knew where she was,” ACLU of Massachusetts attorney Adriana Lafaille told District Judge Denise Casper on Thursday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter said moving Ozturk was “already set in place” before the order.
“The language of the order says ‘do not move outside Massachusetts’ which does not affect a situation when the person is already outside of Massachusetts,” he said.
In a rare show of support from a university at the center of the Trump administration’s allegations of campus-wide antisemitism, Tufts University said there is “no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention.”
“The University has seen an outpouring of support for Ms. Ozturk over the last week from Tufts students, faculty and staff,” according to a statement from the university. “These individuals have described Ms. Ozturk as a valued member of the community, dedicated to her academic pursuits and committed to her colleagues.”
ACLU attorney Adriana Lafaille speaks to reporters and Rumeysa Ozturk’s supporters after a court hearing in Boston on April 3open image in gallery
ACLU attorney Adriana Lafaille speaks to reporters and Rumeysa Ozturk’s supporters after a court hearing in Boston on April 3 (EPA)
Plain-clothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Ozturk outside her apartment on March 25 while she was on her way to an Iftar dinner to break her Ramadan fast with friends.
Surveillance footage shows a man with his head covered by a black hooded sweatshirt approaching her and grabbing her wrists. Another man in a ball cap and hooded sweatshirt then walks behind her before pulling out a badge from under his hoodie and grabbing Ozturk’s phone from her hand.
Other plain-clothes agents then surround her with neck gaiters covering their faces. Of the six agents who surrounded her, all but one wore masks.
Her arrest and the termination of her student visa “are part of an effort by the Trump administration to silence and chill speech supportive of the rights of Palestinians and critical of Israel’s war in Gaza, especially on university campuses,” according to a filing from Ozturk’s attorneys.
Ozturk’s arrest follows similar actions from federal authorities targeting student activists who joined protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, none of whom have been accused of committing any crime.
Trump signed two executive orders that attorneys say “fulfill his campaign promise of chilling speech in support of Palestinians” by conflating demonstrations with antisemitism and support for Hamas.
One declares U.S. policy to “ensure” noncitizens “do not … advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.”
A fact sheet for another executive order pledges “immediate action” to “investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities” with a promise to “deport Hamas sympathizers and revoke student visas.”
Trump and administration officials “have mischaracterized such speech as inherently supportive of Hamas and antisemitic,” Ozturk’s attorneys wrote in court filings.