Rumeysa Ozturk is being held at an ICE facility in Louisiana after being taken into custody Tuesday.
Protesters flooded the streets of Somerville, Massachusetts, on Wednesday after a Tufts University graduate student was detained by federal agents.
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national and Ph.D. candidate at the school, is at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana after being taken into custody Tuesday.
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Video shared with NBC10 Boston shows Ozturk scream as she’s approached on a sidewalk by a man who grabs her. She’s eventually surrounded by seven plainclothes agents.
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In a statement to NBC News, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said that "DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans."
"A visa is a privilege not a right," the spokesperson continued. "Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security."
The throngs of supporters who rallied for Ozturk in Somerville Wednesday said she is here legally, calling her detention completely unwarranted.
"We need to call what happened to Rumeysa what it is: State-sanctioned political kidnapping," one speaker said at the rally.
"It was just really disturbing and brought home the crisis that we're seeing across the country," Medford City Council President Zak Bear, who attended the demonstration, told NBC10 Boston.
Ozturk's attorney said she maintained a valid F-1 visa status. School officials said Wednesday that they had no prior knowledge of Ozturk's detention and did not share information with federal authorities. They said they've also been told the her visa has been terminated.
"I'm also a Tufts student, much like she was, and it's really sad to see her go," said Logan Gagnepain at the rally. "It was completely unjustified."
Tufts students say Ozturk wrote an article calling for Tufts to divest from companies directly tied to Israel.
While the federal government claims Ozturk supported Hamas, it has not said how or shown evidence.
A U.S. District Court judge on Tuesday issued an order blocking the Trump administration from removing Ozturk from the state of Massachusetts without notice. But Ozturk is currently at the South Louisiana ICE processing center.
"Why she was transferred to Louisiana despite the court's order is unfathomable," a speaker at the rally said.
Tufts University President Sunil Kumar and other school leaders issued another statement Wednesday night after confirmation that Ozturk was detained and is in Louisiana.
"We recognize how frightening and distressing this situation is for her, her loved ones, and the larger community here at Tufts, especially our international students, staff, and faculty who may be feeling vulnerable or unsettled by these events," the school leaders said. "As noted by the Massachusetts Attorney General in her statement today, the footage of Rumeysa’s arrest is disturbing. We stand with our Muslim students, especially during their observance of Ramadan, as we recognize that Rumeysa was on her way to an Iftar gathering with friends at the Interfaith Center when she was detained."
The school also said it has a protocol to notify the Tufts University Police Department and inform the dispatcher in the event of "government officials who arrive on campus for an unannounced site visit." People are urged to call 617-627-3030 to report such an incident.
