Oppressed Peoples Online Word...The Voice Of The Voiceless

Dedicated to disseminating news & information not found in mainstream media....

Hostage Rumeysa Ozturk Held In U.S. Government Facility...No Charges and Kidnapped

This is Rumeysa Ozturk, a Fulbright scholar from Turkey who is studying for her doctorate at Tufts University.
Last night, six masked men walked up to her in a residential neighborhood, grabbed her, and whisked her away in unmarked cars. Bystanders asked the men who they were and why they wore masks and they said "We're the police."
One of the neighbors caught it on his security camera and has shared truly chilling photos of a young woman being surrounded and bundled off into a car.
May be an image of 1 person, eyeglasses and scarf
Like previous illegal ICE arrests of recent days there have been no charges filed. Her lawyer quickly filed with a judge to prevent her being moved out of state, which the judge approved, but as of today the ICE tracking tool shows her at a privately run prison in Louisiana, not in Massachusetts where she was taken. Her lawyers have not been allowed to speak to her.
Unlike other recent arrests, Ozturk was NOT heavily involved in protest actions on her campus or elsewhere.
I've been told that in some of the other egregious ICE actions of recent weeks that it's "not a free speech issue" because these people are "terrorists" and "supporters of Hamas" (NONE of which has been proven *or even charged* by the US government) AND YET... the best guess right now as to why this woman's visa was revoked and she was arrested is that she put her name on an op-ed in her school paper.
The op-ed had controversial statements like "We, as graduate students, affirm the equal dignity and humanity of all people."
So, to recap:
- A young, intelligent woman who is studying in the US legally
- Wrote an op-ed
- Got arrested by masked men and had her visa revoked
- Was removed from the state despite a court order saying she was not to be removed
- Has not been allowed to contact her lawyers
One of Rumeysa's friends, a professor at Northeastern, describes her as a "soft spoken, kind, and gentle soul." He said that not only was she not antisemitic, and not racist, he said that in the ten years he's known her she's not spoken badly to anyone at all.
It seems like in every way, Rumeysa Ozturk is the kind of person we should want in the United States. Kind, intelligent, law-abiding. Instead we've violated her rights and our own values, abducted her with masked secret police, incarcerated her without any charges, kept her from her lawyers, and disobeyed court orders about where she's to be kept.
I've heard some people saying lately that there's no reason to be concerned, because immigrants don't have the same rights as citizens, and honestly I find this more stomach-churning than some of the directly racist or xenophobic things I've seen people say. Why on earth are people defending the government that's harming people instead of the vulnerable people being harmed?
I will promise you this: when a government starts violating rights of the vulnerable, it doesn't stop with a single population of people.
This is another truly disturbing action by the US government and by ICE. If you're an American citizen, please make some noise about this to your reps, and check in on your friends who are vulnerable to this same kind of xenophobic totalitarian rights violations.
ETA: I've updated the photo here. The original photo I shared was apparently of another woman with the same name. Apologies to all and thanks for those who caught it in the comments.

Views: 19

Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص on Friday

Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص on Friday

In an effort to crack down on student activists who support Palestinians, the U.S. has revoked hundreds

May be an image of 1 person, eyeglasses and scarf

of visas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday at a press conference. He is delivering on President Trump’s promise to deport noncitizens whose activism he claims supports Hamas terrorism and is antisemitic. This week, over a thousand people outside of Boston took to the streets to call on the government to free Tufts University PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk. Federal agents in plain clothes and face masks arrested her. The agents plan to deport her. 

Ozturk published an op-ed last year in the student paper criticizing her school’s leaders for not condemning the war in Gazaas part of her pro-Palestinian activism, NPR’s Adrian Florido tells Up First. The Department of Homeland Security said that Ozturk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization.” Her lawyers say the allegations are baseless. Because Rubio revoked hundreds of these activists' visas, they became immediately deportable

Full article:  https://view.nl.npr.org/?qs=2980b83debfea5aa64cebbcc44fafe65ea9af3d...

Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص on Friday

Kofi Bilal Mahmud

Executive Director

Thumbnail

Oppressed Peoples Online Word 

Your Voice Since 2010

The Voice Of The Voiceless...A People Without A Voice Can Not Be Heard!

Periodically we at OPOW have to make an evaluation on our being able to sustain this effort of bringing  you stories that many of you enjoy.  We do not take adds, nor do we charge a subscription.  Much or most of our operating expense is covered by a few individuals who have been very generous over the past 15 years.

Much of our content is supplied by volunteers and myself.   With that being said, we need your support to continue this effort.  No amount is too small or too large.  Please consider becoming a much needed supporter of OPOW today.  In advance, from all of us at OPOW,  we thank you for your continued support.  

Bilal Mahmud
Executive Director OPOW

Support OPOW:  OPOW Needs Your Support - Oppressed Peoples Online Word...The Voice...

None of us are free,  if one of us is chained!
If we don't say it's wrong.....then we say it's right!
 
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
- Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)

The Voice Of The Voiceless... A People Without A Voice Can Not Be Heard...

Make Your Pledge To OPOW, The Voice Of The Voiceless

 
Paypal send to:jabal51@hotmail.com1 
Shaban 1445 A.H.$1.00 per day can make a difference..




Or Cashapp: $bilal1370

Zelle: jabal51@hotmail.com



Mail: Little Deep Creek LLC
P.O. Box 1241
Conley, Ga. 30288

Oppressed Peoples Online Word 

Your Voice Since 2010

Support OPOW Today...An Appeal From The Executive Director Bilal Ma...



Thank you from all of us here at OPOW

Chip In To Help OPOW Make A Difference

Visit Us On Facebook:  (2) Facebook

OPOW Above The Fold

Comment by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص yesterday

May be an image of 1 person, eyeglasses and scarf

A federal judge in Massachusetts has temporarily barred the deportation of a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, who voiced support for Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza and was detained by US immigration officials.

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was forcibly taken into custody by masked federal agents in broad daylight near her Massachusetts home on Tuesday. Immigration officials also revoked her visa.

Full article:  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/29/tufts-university-student-c...

Comment

You need to be a member of Oppressed Peoples Online Word...The Voice Of The Voiceless to add comments!

Join Oppressed Peoples Online Word...The Voice Of The Voiceless

Blog Posts

Forum

Allah سبحانه و تعالى said : “This day, I have completed your religion for you”

Allah completed the religion through him and the proof is His saying, He, the Most High: «This day, I have completed your religion for you, perfected My blessings upon you, and am pleased…Continue

Started by karriem el-amin shabazz in Sample Title Sep 8, 2022.

The argument about Resurrection and life after death!

Allah says: “Nay! I swear by this city. This city wherein you have been rendered violable, and I swear by the parent and his offspring” (90Al-Balad:1-3) To begin a conversation, in Arabic with Nay,…Continue

Started by karriem el-amin shabazz in Sample Title Jul 29, 2022.

The question: When will the threat of Resurrection be carried out?

After Tauhid the other question about which a dispute was raging between the Prophet (pbuh) and the disbelievers was the question of the Hereafter. Here, before giving the arguments, the Hereafter…Continue

Started by karriem el-amin shabazz in Sample Title Jun 18, 2022.

This is the Truth: The Garden of Eternity, or the Blazing Fire!!!

Allah says: “Tell them, (O Prophet): “Did you consider (what would be your end) if this Qur'an were indeed from Allah and yet you rejected it? And this, even though a witness from the Children of…Continue

Started by karriem el-amin shabazz in Sample Title Jun 1, 2022.

Badge

Loading…

Groups

© 2025   Created by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service