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Tufts student: Video shows masked agents arresting Rumeysa Ozturk
- reillyse 2y agoThis is nuts, “we are the police”, cool. Things are starting to look awfully like an authoritarian state around here. Disappearing dissidents off the street is not a good look.
- matsemann 2y agoThis will get flagged and killed by users claiming it's because they don't want politics here, but really just don't want to admit to themselves what's going on. Some things are worth standing up for. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_They_Came https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_They_Came
- Glyptodon 2y agoOr it'll just get an invisible penalty to do the same.
- readthenotes1 2y ago[flagged]
- matsemann 2y agoSupporting Palestina != Supporting Hamas. And so much for free speech I guess. Do you seriously think writing this warrants being basically kidnapped and detained in an unknown location? https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/03/4ftk27sm6jkj https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/03/4ftk27sm6jkj
- spacemadness 2y agoCalling what happened in Palestine a genocide is not supporting a terrorist group. That’s a massive leap. It’s free speech. “The eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the government, said he was shocked by what he saw.” Yeah you’re right, totally normal times.
- mcphage 2y agoI think you meant to say “First they kidnapped…”
- aaron695 2y ago[dead]
- meijer 2y agoThe story can also be considered on-topic because it shows how the USA is increasingly becoming a bad place to start a business. When foreign talent can be snatched by masked secret police at any time and the rule of law is increasingly ignored, it hardly creates a favorable business environment.
- snehk 2y ago[flagged]
- meijer 2y agoBetter yet: don't be a "guest" in the USA.
- addandsubtract 2y agoEven being a legal resident isn't safe anymore.
- matsemann 2y agoDo you seriously believe the punishment here matches the "crime" of writing an article? I don't even see the problem with it. You want people to come and better your country, or do you want them to be docile slaves? And who even decides what counts as activism? If I write an article about wanting my campus to serve better food, should I be deported? But you're anyways missing the point: If you can't be yourself, stand up for your values and live freely, you will not move to a country. This is the US now, and because of that the US will lose out on great talent, people will be apprehensive of starting businesses, study or otherwise in the US.
- tvaughan 2y agoWhat’s political activism?
- AlecSchueler 2y agoSpeaking opinions contrary to the party line.
- sjsdaiuasgdia 2y agoIf you don't think the US is driving fast towards a fascist dictatorship, you need to open your eyes. Don't wait til you're targeted. Speak up now. Call your representatives. Go to protests. Be loud. Support and protect those who are close to you.
- jumpman_miya 2y ago[dead]
- bikezen 2y agoAlso ICE has not told her lawyer where she is currently being held.
- bananapub 2y agonot an accident - if they decline to tell the lawyer where she is, then lawyers can't file a suit at the correct court and so there is de facto no judicial review available until her location is revealed.
- tobr 2y agoFor people outside the US: would you travel to the US now? What if your employer asked you to do it - what would you say? How do you feel about conferences and events held in the US?
- woleium 2y agono, no, not going.
- marcosdumay 2y agoNo. I would say I wouldn't go. Holding conferences on the US was already a complete barrier, as it would require a work visa, and even if I really wanted to go, I'd need every information and inscription to be available 6 months in advance.
- drspacemonkey 2y agoNo, I would not. ICE has already detained Canadians, and I'm not looking to try my luck. I've already cancelled a work trip to a convention in Vegas.
- betaby 2y ago> For people outside the US: would you travel to the US now? Yes. I would go to a conference to the USA, although that's incredibly rare that Canadian companies pay for the travel. Local conferences ( same city as the office one employed ) are OK though.
- verzali 2y agoNo. I've already told my employer that I will not join one planned trip to the US this year. From the travel plans I believe I'm not the only one.
- lawn 2y agoAbsolutely not (from Sweden) and I'll refuse any conference or event held in the US.
- AlecSchueler 2y agoIt's not a theoretical for me anymore, I've already cancelled a trip I was planning this summer, and have expressed concerns with friends and family who are still thinking of making the journey.
- esafak 2y agoSince when do police officers wear masks in plainclothes while making arrests? They're DHS agents, says her lawyer. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-03-26/tufts-international-graduate-student-taken-into-ice-custody https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-03-26/tufts-internation... As far as I can tell, she was doxed by a pro-Israel group for supporting BDS and lending her name to a Tufts Daily op-ed calling for Tufts to adopt a resolution to acknowledge a Palestinian genocide: https://canarymission.org/individual/Rumeysa_Ozturk https://canarymission.org/individual/Rumeysa_Ozturk Has anyone been deported for BDS support? Her visa has been revoked.
- Kim_Bruning 2y agoAre we sure the 'police' are Americans at all? They didn't identify themselves. (My first thought was that it was Turkish agents)
- esafak 2y agoThey're DHS agents, according to her lawyer.
- Kim_Bruning 2y ago"The lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, said Wednesday afternoon that she still does not know where her client is being held and has not been able to contact her." Hence my question. We'll see!
- esafak 2y agoI responded based on information in another article: https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-03-26/tufts-international-graduate-student-taken-into-ice-custody https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-03-26/tufts-internation...
- Kim_Bruning 2y agoAnd indeed looks like DHS confirms they have her. The reason I was a bit reserved was because that's not how I expect US officials to behave.
- bananapub 2y agohave you not seen the news the last couple of months? this is exactly how US officials are behaving.
- perihelions 2y agoThe Turkish government doesn't care about this kind of stuff. If Turkish agents black-bagged anyone in the US, it'd be either Gulen or a Kurdish separatist. (Michael Flynn discussed black-bagging Gulen as a favor to Erdogan during the first Trump administration, but that proposal went nowhere [0,1]). [0] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41947451 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41947451 ("Ex-Trump aide Mike Flynn 'offered $15m by Turkey for Gulen'" (2017)) [1] https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/jury-convicts-flynn-intel-group-founder-conspiring-act-undisclosed-agent-turkey https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/jury-convicts-flynn-... ("Jury Convicts Flynn Intel Group Founder of Conspiring to Act as an Undisclosed Agent of Turkey" (2019))
- beezlebroxxxxxx 2y agoSomewhat incredibly, the administration is citing a McCarthy-era 1952 law that many read as explicitly antisemitic and targeted at Jewish eastern-european survivors of the holocaust lest they be too sympathetic to communism as the legal basis for these actions. That law sought to keep people out, but the administration seems to believe it can also be used to deport people. An ironic quote: "In a 1952 edition of The New York Times, then-Anti-Defamation League president Benjamin Epstein was quoted as saying that immigration regulations like the McCarran law were 'examples of the worst kind of legislation, discriminatory and abusive of American concepts and ideals.'"[0] [0]: https://forward.com/news/702427/mccarran-walter-act-state-department-plan-deport-pro-hamas-students/ https://forward.com/news/702427/mccarran-walter-act-state-de...
- jfengel 2y agoThe ADL declined to make an endorsement in the last election. Their press page doesn't mention this incident one way or another. They did express concern that the anti-DEI push removed some Holocaust articles from government web stes. I wonder if they're reconsidering their choices.
- jauntywundrkind 2y agoThis is what she was targetted for writing: https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/03/4ftk27sm6jkj https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/03/4ftk27sm6jkj Supposedly they revoked her visa after nabbing her too. Absolutely atrocious horrific horseshit.
- jaybrendansmith 2y agoFree speech advocates: It doesn't matter what this person said. In this case they wrote an opinion piece in a college newspaper. For this they had their Visa revoked and have been pulled off the street at my son's college. This is not ok! I don't agree with her opinion, many people don't, but she is allowed to have it, and to speak clearly in the public square. THIS IS NOT OK.
- shdh 2y agoArticle in question: https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/03/4ftk27sm6jkj https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/03/4ftk27sm6jkj An F-1 visa can be revoked if the U.S. government determines the holder has violated its conditions: * failing to maintain full-time enrollment or engaging in unauthorized work * committed acts that breach U.S. law, such as criminal behavior * activities deemed a national security threat under the Immigration and Nationality Act We don't have all of the information in the case, hopefully it does come out.
- DiogenesKynikos 2y agoMarco Rubio has confirmed (in a press conference today) that Rumeysa Ozturk is being deported purely based on her opinions, not based on any illegal actions she has taken.
- reverendsteveii 2y agoWhen masked thugs disappear someone who isn't accused of any crime and then no one knows where that person is at and they're denied their civil rights, that's kidnapping.
- genocidicbunny 2y agoAnd said masked thugs need to start being treated commensurately -- as the kidnappers that they are.
- pmags 2y agoThis is terrifying. The US Government is now actively "disappearing" people....
- heavymetalpoizn 2y ago[dead]
- timeon 2y agoThere was this song from early 80s by UK band Discharge: "Free Speech for the Dumb". It came to US when Metallica covered it in early 90s and people there though that it was praising free speech - that 'even dumb deserve free speech'. Meanwhile the song is about empty phrase that 'free speech' is. Empty phrase.
- reverendsteveii 2y agohackernews needs more d-beat. thanks for reminding me.
- diebeforei485 2y agoThis is ridiculous. And people should be aware that this is happening. Why is this flagged?
- bananapub 2y agothere's a significant voting contingent on this site who flag every post that is about the US government behaving horrifically. a better question is why dang permits this.
- cmurf 2y agoDe-escalation and bystander intervention training. https://righttobe.org/upcoming-free-trainings/ https://righttobe.org/upcoming-free-trainings/
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agohttps://archive.ph/hJ4Q8 https://archive.ph/hJ4Q8