signalmankenneth
Verified User
Good for her, there is something called freedom of speech, is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution?!! I hope she sues I.C.E too! We just don't snatch people off the streets in America?!!
Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk has been released – following a federal judge’s order in Vermont - from a Louisiana detention center where she has spent the last six weeks after being snatched by masked plainclothes officers in broad daylight near her Massachusetts home in March, according to her attorney Esha Bhandari.
A federal judge in Vermont on Friday ordered the immediate release of Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk from a Louisiana detention center where she has spent the last six weeks after being snatched by masked plainclothes officers in broad daylight.
A chilling video of Öztürk’s March 25 arrest showed a swarm of officers encircling her near her Somerville, Massachusetts home as she shrieked in fear, sparking national outrage. Her detention more than 1,500 miles away from her home – part of a series of high-profile arrests of international students who participated in pro-Palestinian activism – has triggered widespread protests and raised concerns over due process and free speech on university campuses.
Her arrest came a year after Öztürk co-authored a campus newspaper op-ed that was critical of Tufts University’s response to the war in Gaza, and her attorneys have said that she was targeted by the administration in an attempt to chill pro-Palestinian speech in violation of her constitutional rights. The 30-year-old, originally from Turkey and on a valid F-1 student visa, was shuttled through multiple states after her arrest and suffered through a series of asthma attacks without adequate medical care, according to her attorneys.
Öztürk, who has not been charged with any crime, was accused by the Trump administration of participating in activities in support of Hamas. Neither the administration nor attorneys for the Department of Justice presented any evidence of her alleged activities in court.
US District Judge William K. Sessions III presided over the more than three-hour hearing, where four witnesses – including Öztürk – testified about her community engagement work and her asthma. Sessions said Öztürk had raised “substantial claims” of both due process and First Amendment violations.
“Continued detention potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of individuals in this country who are not citizens. Any one of them may now avoid exercising their First Amendment rights for fear of being whisked away to a detention center,” Sessions said.
Sessions noted that for multiple weeks, except for the op-ed, the government failed to produce any evidence to support Öztürk’s continued detention. “That is literally the case,” Sessions said. “There is no evidence here as to the motivation absent the consideration of the op-ed.”
Öztürk is one of several international university students facing deportation as part of the Trump administration deportation efforts, which include a focus on pro-Palestinian protesters and activists on college campuses. The arrests of scholars and students at the hands of masked law enforcement officers, who have taken them into custody by ambushing them on city streets and near their homes, have sent a chill across the international student community.
The decision in Öztürk’s case came the same day the administration was dealt another loss after the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York denied an appeal to stay a lower court’s order to release Columbia University student and lawful permanent resident Mohsen Mahdawi. In its appeal, the Trump administration had sought to re-arrest Mahdawi while his immigration proceedings play out. The decision from the Second Circuit allows Mahdawi to remain released on bail during proceedings.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/us/rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-bail-release
Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk has been released – following a federal judge’s order in Vermont - from a Louisiana detention center where she has spent the last six weeks after being snatched by masked plainclothes officers in broad daylight near her Massachusetts home in March, according to her attorney Esha Bhandari.
A federal judge in Vermont on Friday ordered the immediate release of Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk from a Louisiana detention center where she has spent the last six weeks after being snatched by masked plainclothes officers in broad daylight.
A chilling video of Öztürk’s March 25 arrest showed a swarm of officers encircling her near her Somerville, Massachusetts home as she shrieked in fear, sparking national outrage. Her detention more than 1,500 miles away from her home – part of a series of high-profile arrests of international students who participated in pro-Palestinian activism – has triggered widespread protests and raised concerns over due process and free speech on university campuses.
Her arrest came a year after Öztürk co-authored a campus newspaper op-ed that was critical of Tufts University’s response to the war in Gaza, and her attorneys have said that she was targeted by the administration in an attempt to chill pro-Palestinian speech in violation of her constitutional rights. The 30-year-old, originally from Turkey and on a valid F-1 student visa, was shuttled through multiple states after her arrest and suffered through a series of asthma attacks without adequate medical care, according to her attorneys.
Öztürk, who has not been charged with any crime, was accused by the Trump administration of participating in activities in support of Hamas. Neither the administration nor attorneys for the Department of Justice presented any evidence of her alleged activities in court.
US District Judge William K. Sessions III presided over the more than three-hour hearing, where four witnesses – including Öztürk – testified about her community engagement work and her asthma. Sessions said Öztürk had raised “substantial claims” of both due process and First Amendment violations.
“Continued detention potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of individuals in this country who are not citizens. Any one of them may now avoid exercising their First Amendment rights for fear of being whisked away to a detention center,” Sessions said.
Sessions noted that for multiple weeks, except for the op-ed, the government failed to produce any evidence to support Öztürk’s continued detention. “That is literally the case,” Sessions said. “There is no evidence here as to the motivation absent the consideration of the op-ed.”
Öztürk is one of several international university students facing deportation as part of the Trump administration deportation efforts, which include a focus on pro-Palestinian protesters and activists on college campuses. The arrests of scholars and students at the hands of masked law enforcement officers, who have taken them into custody by ambushing them on city streets and near their homes, have sent a chill across the international student community.
The decision in Öztürk’s case came the same day the administration was dealt another loss after the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York denied an appeal to stay a lower court’s order to release Columbia University student and lawful permanent resident Mohsen Mahdawi. In its appeal, the Trump administration had sought to re-arrest Mahdawi while his immigration proceedings play out. The decision from the Second Circuit allows Mahdawi to remain released on bail during proceedings.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/us/rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-bail-release
