Protesters Rally in the Square Against Grad Student Arrests at Columbia, Tufts

Roughly 30 non-Harvard affiliates protested in front of the Smith Campus Center on Thursday afternoon against the arrests of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk by federal immigration enforcement.

The two are international students in the United States lawfully. Khalil, who played a leading role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia last spring, was detained on March 9, while Ozturk was taken into custody Tuesday evening.

It is unclear why Ozturk — a Turkish national — was targeted. Though Ozturk, alongside three others, authored an op-ed in the Tufts student newspaper demanding the university divest from companies tied to Israel, she was not a prominent leader of campus activism.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed that Ozturk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas” but did not offer evidence to support the claim, the Washington Post reported. Spokespeople for DHS and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement did not respond to a list of questions sent Thursday.

The protest in Harvard Square was organized by Refuse Fascism, a New York-based organization founded “in the wake of the election of Donald Trump in 2016,” according to the group’s website. Protesters, including Cambridge and Boston residents, rallied to condemn the targeted detainments.

While no known Harvard students have been detained at present, the group chose to rally in Harvard Square in light of pressure from the Trump administration to crack down on campus activism.

“We see Harvard and some of what they’re doing is submitting to the fascist state. We don’t see academia standing up and speaking up for its students,” Maria Sanchez, a protester with Refuse Facism, said.

A University spokesperson declined to comment on Sanchez’s criticism.

The rally took place outside of Harvard’s gates while Harvard Yard was restricted to ID holders following a Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine protest Thursday morning. Though a University spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the gate closure, Harvard often restricts campus access ahead of publicized protests.

Ozturk and Khalil are among several students nationwide who have been targeted and detained by the federal government. Alireza Doroudi, a graduate student at the University of Alabama from Iran, was detained by ICE early Tuesday morning.

As the Trump Administration ramps up threats of deportation against international students participating in pro-Palestinian activism, news of Ozturk’s arrest quickly circulated nationwide as a video of her arrest spread on social media.

Ozturk was confronted by masked ICE officers dressed in plainclothes outside of her off-campus Somerville apartment. Video footage of the incident shows Ozturk, dressed in a white coat and a hijab, being handcuffed and led into an unmarked car.

Administrators notified Tufts affiliates about the incident in an email sent Tuesday night.

“The university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event,” the email, which was signed by Tufts president Sunil Kumar, stated. A second university-wide email was sent Wednesday evening noting that Ozturk was being held in an ICE detention center in Louisiana.

Ozturk was on her way to break the day’s Ramadan fast at an iftar gathering with her friends when she was arrested, according to the Wednesday email.

The same day as Ozturk’s arrest, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani ’82 ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside of Massachusetts without advance notice. But in a Thursday court filing, federal prosecutors claimed that Ozturk was moved before the judge’s order, the Boston Globe reported.

Ozturk’s arrest quickly sparked outrage throughout the state.

More than 2,000 people protested near the Tufts campus on Wednesday against Ozturk’s arrest. And in a Thursday statement posted to social media, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell called the arrest “disturbing.”

“It is alarming that the federal government chose to ambush and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding individual because of her political views,” Campbell wrote. “This isn’t public safety, it’s intimidation that will, and should, be closely scrutinized in court.”

—Staff writer Ayaan Ahmad contributed reporting.

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.