LOCAL FALLOUT FROM THIS SHAUN. WELL, HER LAWYER SAYS THE 30 YEAR OLD IS RIGHT NOW BEING DETAINED IN LOUISIANA. AND TONIGHT THE SOMERVILLE CITY COUNCIL HELD A MOMENT OF SILENCE AS PEOPLE OUTSIDE RALLIED FOR HER SAFE RETURN. UXBRIDGE, NOW FROM SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE CITY HALL TO SOMERVILLE COUNCILORS INSIDE. CURIOUS HOW JUST FULL OF RAGE I AM. ANGER OVER THIS TUFTS PHD STUDENT RUMAISA ÖZTÜRK, TAKEN AWAY BY FEDERAL AGENTS AS SHE LEFT HER HOME TO BREAK RAMADAN FAST. HOMELAND SECURITY SAYS SHE ENGAGED IN ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF HAMAS, BUT DID NOT ELABORATE. FRIENDS NOW VOUCHING FOR HER PROFESSIONALLY AND PERSONALLY. SHE’S NOT A CITIZEN OF THE U.S., BUT SHE’S AN EXEMPLARY CITIZEN, EXEMPLARY PERSON, EXEMPLARY STUDENT, SAYING THE FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR FROM TURKEY HAD A VALID VISA. NO CRIMINAL HISTORY IS SOFT SPOKEN AND NONVIOLENT. THE WAY SHE CARRIED HERSELF IN THAT VIDEO SHOWS HER PERSONALITY THROUGH AND THROUGH. IT’S UNBELIEVABLE. IT’S NOT CONSTITUTIONAL. O ÖZTÜRK WROTE AN OP ED LAST YEAR DEMANDING TUFTS UNIVERSITY DIVEST FUNDING FROM ISRAEL. SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO, SAYING THE U.S. REVOKED HER VISA. IT’S 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. HER FRIENDS SAY SHE DID NONE OF THAT. THIS IS FREEDOM OF SPEECH. IT’S NOT CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES. WELL, LET’S SEE THE EVIDENCE. AND THE EVIDENCE WILL COME OUT IN COURT. BUT SHE’S NOT IN COURT. SHE’S WHISKED AWAY LIKE THE GULAG. IT’S SICKENING. PEOPLE CAN RIP OFF THE STREET BECAUSE OF THEIR VIEWS. IT’S WRONG. NOW, HER FRIENDS SAY THAT BEFORE HER ARREST, SHE HAD BEEN GETTING DOXXED AND THAT SHE WAS ON THE PHONE WITH HER MOTHER WHEN FEDERAL AGENTS TOOK HER AWAY. WE’RE LIVE IN SOMERVILLE. SHAUN CHAIYABHAT WCVB NEWSCENTER FIVE. SEAN, THANK YOU FOR THAT. WE TURN NOW TO THE KAREN REED CASE, WHERE A FEDERAL COURT HAS DENIED HER APPEAL. HER RETRIAL WILL BEGIN NEXT WEEK. OUR PETER ILIOPOULOS IN THE NEWSROOM WITH THE NEW RULING. PETER. YEAH. ERICA. IT WAS THE FIRST CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS HERE IN BOSTON THAT UPHELD THAT LOWER COURT DECISION, SAYING THAT KAREN REED’S SECOND TRIAL WILL GO ON IN THE ARGUMENT OF DOUBLE JEOPARDY, DOESN’T STAND. AFTER SEVERAL APPEALS BY KAREN REED’S DEFENSE TEAM IN BOTH STATE AND FEDERAL COURT FOLLOWING HER FIRST TRIAL, THE APPELLATE COURT
‘Let’s see the evidence’: Protestors, Somerville city councilors speak out against ICE detainment of Tufts student
Rallies and outrage grow near Tufts University as graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk remains in United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.She was swiped off the street by undercover ICE agents on Tuesday.Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out the federal government’s position in clear terms during an event in Guyana on Thursday.”If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States, and with that visa, participate in that sort of activity, we’re going to take away your visa,” Rubio said. “Once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States. And we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country. So it’s just that simple.”Ozturk’s lawyer said the 30-year-old is now being detained in Louisiana.Somerville City Council held a moment of silence for her during a Thursday night meeting, while people rallied outside for her safe return.”How just full of rage I am,” Somerville City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen said.Ozturk was taken away by ICE agents as she left her home to break the Ramadan fast.U.S. Homeland Security said she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” but did not elaborate.Her friends are now vouching for her, both professionally and personally, saying the Fulbright Scholar from Turkey had a valid visa, no criminal history, and is soft-spoken and non-violent.”She’s not a citizen of the U.S., but she’s an exemplary citizen, an exemplary person, exemplary student,” Ozturk’s friend Reyyan Bilge said. “The way she carried herself even in that video shows her personality, through and through. It’s unbelievable. It’s not constitutional.”Ozturk wrote an op-ed last year demanding Tufts University divest funding from Israel.Rubio said the U.S. revoked her visa.”If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us the reason you are 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 said.However, Ozturk’s friends said she did none of that.”This is freedom of speech, it’s not crossing the boundaries,” Bilge said.Protestors outside Somerville City Hall rallied in support of her.”Let’s see the evidence,” protestor Michael Johnson said. “The evidence will come out in court, but she’s not in court. She’s whisked away like the gulag. It’s sickening. People are getting ripped off the street because of their views? It’s wrong.”Ozturk’s friends said before her arrest, she had been getting doxed and that she was on the phone with her mother when ICE agents took her away.
SOMERVILLE, Mass. —Rallies and outrage grow near Tufts University as graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk remains in United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
She was swiped off the street by undercover ICE agents on Tuesday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out the federal government’s position in clear terms during an event in Guyana on Thursday.
“If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States, and with that visa, participate in that sort of activity, we’re going to take away your visa,” Rubio said. “Once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States. And we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country. So it’s just that simple.”
Ozturk’s lawyer said the 30-year-old is now being detained in Louisiana.
Somerville City Council held a moment of silence for her during a Thursday night meeting, while people rallied outside for her safe return.
“How just full of rage I am,” Somerville City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen said.
Ozturk was taken away by ICE agents as she left her home to break the Ramadan fast.
U.S. Homeland Security said she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” but did not elaborate.
Her friends are now vouching for her, both professionally and personally, saying the Fulbright Scholar from Turkey had a valid visa, no criminal history, and is soft-spoken and non-violent.
“She’s not a citizen of the U.S., but she’s an exemplary citizen, an exemplary person, exemplary student,” Ozturk’s friend Reyyan Bilge said. “The way she carried herself even in that video shows her personality, through and through. It’s unbelievable. It’s not constitutional.”
Ozturk wrote an op-ed last year demanding Tufts University divest funding from Israel.
Rubio said the U.S. revoked her visa.
“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us the reason you are 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 said.
However, Ozturk’s friends said she did none of that.
“This is freedom of speech, it’s not crossing the boundaries,” Bilge said.
Protestors outside Somerville City Hall rallied in support of her.
“Let’s see the evidence,” protestor Michael Johnson said. “The evidence will come out in court, but she’s not in court. She’s whisked away like the gulag. It’s sickening. People are getting ripped off the street because of their views? It’s wrong.”
Ozturk’s friends said before her arrest, she had been getting doxed and that she was on the phone with her mother when ICE agents took her away.
