A security camera video shows Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, being arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Somerville, Massachusetts, on March 26. The Canadian Press
A Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University has been taken into custody by federal agents without explanation, her lawyer said Wednesday.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, left her home in Somerville on Tuesday evening to meet friends when U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents arrested her. A video shows six masked individuals taking her phone and handcuffing her.
“We’re the police,” one of them said. A bystander asked why they were hiding their faces.
Ozturk’s lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, said she was on her way to iftar, the meal that breaks the daily Ramadan fast.
“We have no idea where she is and cannot contact her. She has not been charged,” Khanbabai said. Ozturk holds a valid visa to study in the U.S.
Neighbors were alarmed by the arrest. Michael Mathis, a 32-year-old software engineer, said his surveillance camera captured the incident.
“It looked like a kidnapping,” he said. “They wore masks, grabbed her, and left in unmarked cars.”
Tufts University President Sunil Kumar confirmed federal authorities detained an international graduate student and revoked the student’s visa.
“The university had no prior knowledge and did not provide information to federal authorities,” he said.
Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley condemned the arrest.
“This is a horrifying violation of Rumeysa’s constitutional rights,” she said. “She must be released immediately.”
Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell found the video “disturbing.”
“It’s alarming that the federal administration ambushed and detained her, targeting her for her views,” she said. “This is intimidation, not public safety.”
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ordered the government to explain why Ozturk was detained and restricted her transfer outside Massachusetts without prior notice.
By Wednesday evening, an online federal detainee database listed Ozturk at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.
A senior DHS official confirmed her visa was revoked.
“DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk supported Hamas, a terrorist organization that kills Americans,” the official said. “A visa is a privilege, not a right. Supporting terrorists justifies termination.”
Ozturk had co-authored an opinion piece in March criticizing Tufts’ response to student resolutions calling for acknowledgment of Palestinian suffering and divestment from companies linked to Israel.
She was not deeply involved in protests, but after the article’s publication, her name and photo appeared on a website accusing her of anti-Israel activism.
Recently, several students and faculty members have had visas revoked or were denied entry to the U.S. after expressing support for Palestinians. The Trump administration has cited a law allowing visa cancellations for those deemed a threat to foreign policy.
Ozturk, a former Fulbright scholar, previously studied at Columbia University and worked on cognitive psychology research. Her colleagues described her as a kind person focused on her studies.
“Over 10 years, I’ve never heard her speak negatively about anyone,” said Reyyan Bilge, a psychology professor at Northeastern University.
