Federal authorities detained a Tufts University graduate student Tuesday while she was on her way to break her Ramadan fast with friends, her lawyer said, and the moment was caught on video.
Department of Homeland Security agents apprehended Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national who was maintaining a valid F-1 student visa as a doctoral student, near her home, her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, said in a statement.
"It was only late Wednesday evening that I learned that she was sent to Louisiana, despite a federal court order that she not be removed from the state," Khanbabai said in an email early Thursday.
Protesters gathered in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Wednesday to demand her release, NBC Boston reported.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement online detainee locator system on Wednesday night listed Ozturk as being at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile.
"DHS and 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," a senior DHS spokesperson told NBC News.
The spokesperson added: "Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security.”
No criminal charges have been filed against Ozturk, Khanbabai said.
NBC News obtained a video showing Ozturk's arrest on Tuesday. According to the video, a plainclothes male agent—who wore a hoodie and hat—waved at her as he approached her. He said, “Hey, ma’am.”
According to the video, Ozturk appeared confused and tried to walk around the agent, but the agent stepped in front of her to stop her.
The agent and Ozturk spoke to each other briefly, and the agent then grabbed her hands so he could handcuff her. Ozturk screamed out in confusion, saying, “What’s going on?”
During the exchange, additional agents surrounded Ozturk as they arrested her. A female law enforcement agent said, “OK, it's fine.”
The male agent who initially approached her said, “OK, we’re the police, relax.”
The agents repeatedly said, "we are the police," while they handcuffed and escorted her to a black SUV.
Khanbabai filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in Massachusetts federal court Tuesday to release her. The petition was not publicly available Wednesday morning.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked the Trump administration in a three-page order Tuesday from moving Ozturk outside the District of Massachusetts without providing notice.
Talwani said that a "United States District Court does not generally have subject-matter jurisdiction to review orders of removal" but that it can "preserve the status quo."
However, Khanbabai said early Thursday that Ozturk was transported around New England and flown to Louisiana, and that for 24 hours was not given access to an attorney.
The arrest was being watched closely by Turkish officials, the country’s embassy in Washington said in a Wednesday statement. "The situation of our citizen Rümeysa Öztürk, who was detained in Boston, USA, is being closely monitored and her family is being regularly informed," the statement said.
"Every effort is being made to provide the necessary consular services and legal support to protect the rights of our citizens," the embassy added.
Ozturk is a student in Tufts’ doctoral program for child study and human development, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University.
In March 2024, Ozturk co-authored an opinion essay in the Tufts student newspaper criticizing the university’s response to demands that it “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and “divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.”
Khanbabai, Ozturk's attorney, said early Thursday that the video of her client's arrest "should shake everyone to their core."
"We should all be horrified at the way DHS spirited away Rumeysa in broad daylight. No person, regardless of their citizenship status, should be targeted over their views, especially in support of human rights," Khanbabai said.
Tufts President Sunil Kumar said Tuesday evening that the school received reports about an international graduate student being taken into custody by federal authorities at an off-campus apartment building.
He said the university "had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event."
Kumar said that the university had been told that the student’s visa status was “terminated."
In another statement Wednesday night, the university confirmed that Ozturk was detained and being held in Louisiana.
The university said it was in touch with local and federal elected officials and hopes "that Rumeysa is provided the opportunity to avail herself of her due process rights." Tufts also said it stands with its Muslim students.
On Thursday, the university sent a letter to its alumni to assure them that it is "doing everything in our power to support our community."
Both Tufts and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell characterized the video of the arrest as "disturbing."
“Based on what we now know, it is alarming that the federal administration chose to ambush and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding individual because of her political views,” Campbell said in a statement Wednesday.
“This isn’t public safety, it’s intimidation that will, and should, be closely scrutinized in court," she said.
Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said in a statement: "I am deeply concerned to see a student with legal status detained for what appears to be the exercise of free speech."
"Our rights are being threatened in a variety of ways right now and Somerville will make use of the law and our voices to defend them," she added.
Somerville Police did not participate nor interfere in the arrest, the city said.
