‘Disgusting’: Video released of Tufts University student detained by ICE agents in Somerville

Newly released video shows the moment a Tufts University student was taken into custody by ICE Tuesday.

The president of Tufts said the administration learned that an international graduate student was taken into custody by federal authorities, and that her visa was taken away.

Federal investigators say the student “engaged in student activities in support of Hamas,” and is currently being held in Louisiana by ICE.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national with an F-1 visa, was going to meet friends to break her Ramadan fast when she was detained near her Somerville home, according to her attorney Mahsa Khanbabai.

“We are unaware of her whereabouts and have not been able to contact her.  No charges have been filed against Rumeysa to date that we are aware of.  I filed a habeas petition requesting that she not be moved out of the District of MA which was granted by Judge Talwani last night,” Khanbabai said in a statement.

Surveillance video shows authorities bringing Ozturk into an unmarked car.

Tufts put out a statement following the arrest, saying “the university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event […] and the location where this took place is not affiliated with Tufts University.”

Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne sent out a statement Wednesday.

“I am deeply concerned to see a student with legal status detained for what appears to be the exercise of free speech… Somerville will make use of the law and our voices to defend them,” Ballantyne said.

She said that the agents involved were not Somerville police officers.

“I don’t need to live in a place where people get plucked off the street like that, just walking around,” said Joe Ferraro, who lives near the arrest scene.

He said his parents watched in shock from their nearby home as Ozturk was taken away.

“They were describing a kidnapping on the street. I guess there were some guys hanging out in their cars in the neighborhood all day long,” Ferraro said. “They just got out of the cars and surrounded her, took her away.”

Drew Majka, Ozturk’s next door neighbor, said that after she was arrested, Tufts campus police officers came to her home looking for her, saying she hadn’t been showing up to classes.

“Disgusting that it happens anywhere in this country, that people are taken away and they don’t know where they’re going and their families don’t know where they are,” said Mary Willis, who lives nearby.

Tufts students, staff, and community members plan to gather Wednesday evening to protest the arrest.

“The footage of Rumeysa Ozturk’s arrest – a student here legally – is disturbing,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said in a statement.

“Based on what we now know, it is alarming that the federal administration chose to ambush and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding individual because of her political views. This isn’t public safety, it’s intimidation that will, and should, be closely scrutinized in court. My office is closely monitoring this matter as it develops,” Campbell continued.

This comes as students from other universities around the United States are also being detained by ICE. A doctor and professor at Brown University, Dr. Rasha Alawieh, was recently deported. Alawieh was on her way back to the U.S. from Lebanon when she was detained at Logan Airport.

Despite having a visa and a federal judge ordering Alawieh not to be moved, she was sent back to Lebanon. Homeland Security officials said Alawieh openly admitted to supporting a Hezbollah leader.

This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.