Three nights later, still no charges for Rumeysa Ozturk
This past Tuesday night, Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University PhD student, was kidnapped by ICE agents on the street in Somerville, Massachusetts. We can only guess that they were agents because they had no badges nor uniforms. It is three nights later and we still don’t know what she was charged with. The closest thing we can speculate triggered this was a very un-incendiary 2024 op-ed she co-wrote in the Tufts Daily. You should read it.
You already know all this from the news. She’s one of many people who have been rounded up for murky reasons recently. It’s just that this case grabs me because she was an easy target and they whisked her away to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center without telling her counsel. Trump and Rubio and whoever else want everyone to be too scared to speak out against them, Netanyahu, Putin — take your pick of whichever deplorable they’ll side with next.
The Department of Homeland Security has accused Ozturk, without providing evidence, of “engaging in activities in support of Hamas,” a group which the U.S. government categorizes as a “foreign terrorist organization.” — Reuters
What activities in support of Hamas? Do they mean the op-ed, which is legal, protected free speech (and says nothing about Hamas, by the way, but it wouldn’t matter if it did)? I don’t see anything about her being violent or inciting a riot. I doubt she even got the chance to yell over a bullhorn, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”.
If it eventually becomes clear that she’s guilty of a real crime then I’ll admit I was wrong. I don’t think I am. If there were a charge here, we would damn well have heard about it by now. You can hear the foundation of sand Rubio has built his house on when he glosses over the reasons they revoked her visa. His voice telegraphs that he wants us to stop asking him what she’s charged with. He’s flailing. They’re all dug in now. The longer they hide from their overreach, the more dangerous it becomes for Ozturk. The more dangerous it becomes for any immigrant, visiting student, and natural born citizen.
I’ve heard people say you have to pick your battles with this crass joke of an administration. You can’t get wound up about every piece of shit they flood the zone with. That’s probably a decent way to preserve your own sanity, and so this is the hill I will die on.