One of the men goes for her phone. The other grabs at her hands. Ozturk screams. Shock and fear ripple through her voice. Two masked women join them, tugging at her backpack, peeling the straps from her shoulders. “I’m going somewhere, I need to call someone,” she pleads. “We’re the police. Relax,” one of the men says in response.
They surround her. Then, one by one, they pull their neck gaiters up to cover their faces. “You don’t look like police,” a voice off screen says. “Why are you hiding your faces?” The questions continue, but the figures don’t respond. Instead, they cuff Ozturk, cross the street, and put her in an unmarked SUV. She is gone.
For the record, and I know I’m not the first to say it, this woman committed NO crime. She didn’t overstay a visa, she didn’t protest illegally. She wrote something the administration didn’t like.
For that, she was arrested by 8 masked officers in the middle of the street, in broad daylight. She was thrown in the back on an unmarked SUV. She’s received no legal representation. No trial. Not even charges, because again, she committed no crime.
Americans, you realize you’re watching the death of your rights and the rule of law, right? You have no illusions about the fact that you are defenseless? There is no longer any guardrail between you and an El Salvadoran prison camp. In something that reminds me very much of Stalin, an accusation is now a conviction.
Defenseless is a good word, it seems like we’re all just waiting for a savior to show up and rescue us. It doesn’t help that a large amount of Americans see protest as pointless right now. What it feels like is the bystander effect on a national level.
The worst part is how many people either support or just brush it off.
After all that trashing of Russians and why they do not fight against their government, the world gets to see that Americans are basically the same: so many fall for the dumbest possible propaganda and the rest is either afraid or apathetic.
Humans are the same everywhere. Political structures and cultures are not, but humans have evolved for much longer.
Which is why when you (if you do) think about the EU being some land of honey, it would be wise to also think “what am I missing if I don’t see similar problems there”.
Americans see protest as pointless right now.
Americans have seen a generation of peaceful protests that were crushed and villified. Anti-WTO, Anti-Iraq War, Occupy Wall Street, George Floyd, etc; all failed to achieve any of their stated goals.
And now that the fascists have taken control, peaceful protest is even less effective. For peaceful protest to succeed your opponent must have empathy, and fascists have none.
The last protest movement that accomplished something substantial was the civil rights movement. It was not peaceful, it was militant. I think we need a modern Black Panther Party.
For peaceful protests to succeed they must attract more people to the cause and gather momentum. Protests now would be useful for bringing people together and emboldening people to resist what’s going on. They are a step in building a movement. To say “protests alone don’t change things” misses this point.
Exactly, you need armed protest.
You have no illusions about the fact that you are defenseless?
We have guns. Lots of guns.
Everyone needs to arm themselves and train.
I suspect your government would love it if you started shooting. They’d declare martial law. Goodbye elections, hello police state.
They will do this either way.
There is no bargaining with these people. They will not not escalate from their side. By not escalating from your side you only encourage their escalation as they face no repercussions.
Your guns don’t compare to the guns the government use. Nor do you have the numbers to resist even if equally armed. If the 1/3 of voters that didn’t vote, actually voted for for Harris, you wouldn’t be in this mess but there you are.
What do you mean about numbers? The state and it’s guards are always massively outnumbered by the people, it’s just a question of organization.
For the record, and I know I’m not the first to say it, this woman committed NO crime.
Ozturk
The state rests it’s case.
What the fuck do we do? I’m in a hyperliberal city in one of the few blue states left. We are relatively safe for now. I make a comfortable amount of money that I use to support my wife and friends who sometimes may not have necessities. I cannot risk my job by taking every day off to protest. Protests also seem meaningless to go to for me in my city because they’re happening in a safer city.
I am donating to the ACLU every month, but idk what else we can be doing. What can we be doing?
She wrote something the administration didn’t like.
What was written?
She expressed anti-Palestinian genocide sentiments.
In New America that gets you disappeared by masked thugs.
A couple of op-eds for a Student newspaper criticizing Israel? I thought I saw the pieces linked earlier but I don’t see them now. The article linked on this post says it supported a student divestment program and referenced the International Criminal Court calling attacks on Gaza a genocide.
Hardly spicy compared to your average social media post.
We .need to arm ourselves and shoot fuckers like this. If you see fuckets like this trying to take someone intervene and shoot to kill. We need rise up. Because yes we are next.
Just start by protesting, protecting, and block them from doing this shit when possible. If you go directly full terrorist mode, it means they won…
They already won, are you from another species? Are you watching this?
full terrorist mode
You mean… like these fuckers?
What was fascinating, or perhaps horrific is a better word, about the article that I didn’t know about is the brief mention of “The Canary Mission”
Here’s from their about page:
Canary Mission documents individuals and organizations that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses and beyond. Canary Mission investigates hatred across the entire political spectrum, including the far right, far left and anti-Israel activists.
Canary Mission is motivated by a desire to combat the rise in anti-Semitism on college campuses. We pursue our mission by presenting the words and deeds of individuals and organizations that engage in anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry on the far right, far left and among the array of organizations that comprise the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Essentially they gather dossiers on private individuals that they claim are anti-semitic. So, I looked up the woman that was taken off the street like a Ukrainian draft-dodger.
https://canarymission.org/individual/Rumeysa_Ozturk
Rumeysa Ozturk engaged in anti-Israel activism in March 2024, in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023.
Ozturk is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
What was the anti-Israel activism, you ask? I figured it was some sort of protest. Sort of like the one in New York where they occupied a building.
Nope
On March 26, 2024, Ozturk co-authored an op-ed published in the Tufts Daily newspaper titled: “Try again, President Kumar: Renewing calls for Tufts to adopt March 4 TCU Senate resolutions.” The authors urged “President Kumar and the Tufts administration to meaningfully engage with and actualize the resolutions passed by the Senate.”
The op-ed referred to the passing of anti-Israel resolutions by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, which demanded the University “…acknowledge the Palestinian genocide, apologize for University President Sunil Kumar’s statements, disclose its investments, and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.”
At Tufts university, the Community Union Senate (not really sure what this is. a student council or something) passed a 3/5ths majority resolution urging the president of the university to
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acknowledge the Palestinian genocide
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apologize for some statements, I don’t know what
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disclose its investments
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divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel
She co-wrote an op-ed essentially demanding the president follow the resolution that was passed. That’s the “anti-Israel activism” she’s guilty of. I suppose that’s enough to be deported. Be careful out there guys. If you aren’t a citizen, shut up about your political views until you are. Because there are eyes out there watching everything you do. Even if you are… consider what you are doing. You may be making an enemy of a vindictive state that is willing to break the rules.
Here’s the op-ed, in case you’re interested: https://www.tuftsdaily.com/article/2024/03/4ftk27sm6jkj
These resolutions were the product of meaningful debate by the Senate and represent a sincere effort to hold Israel accountable for clear violations of international law. Credible accusations against Israel include accounts of deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausible genocide.
Lock 'em up, I guess. If you believe that Palestinian civilians have a right to life then you are a terrorist-sympathizer in this administration’s opinion.
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This is terrifying. Anybody can pretend to be ICE and kidnap in broad daylight.
AP’s article mentions that Ozturk was posted on this website, https://canarymission.org/
After the op-ed was published, Ozturk’s name, photograph and work history were published on the website Canary Mission, which describes itself as documenting people who “promote hatred of the U.S.A., Israel and Jews on North American college campuses.”
'Tis a spooky place. No names, none of the articles have bylines, contact is just a webform, domain registration is anonymized, donation link is being washed thru some company called RTech Digital Marketing out of India.
Really got me wondering, who the fuck are these people and why do they seem to have ICE’s ear.
This is fascism
Our inner child will refuse to believe this, but history has shown us that fascists cannot be stopped peacefully.
Concealed carry might be our only real defense in the future
Contemplating visiting the US? Watch this.
Removed by mod
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson later claimed Ozturk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization.” The person said Ozturk, who is from Turkey, had had her student visa revoked.
To be perfectly clear, Ozturk is not accused of breaking the law. The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t bothered to explain its reasoning, but several outlets reported that Ozturk co-authored a student opinion piece urging Tufts to recognize the International Court of Justice’s declaration of a “plausible risk of genocide” unfolding in Gaza and to divest from Israel. You can read the article if you like. It does not mention Hamas.
WT actual F? A school opinion piece gets you disappeared??
We FUCKING TOLD ALL OF YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN. And you said we were being hyperbolic.
It will get worse.
Who are you addressing here
All the “Trump won’t be so bad” idiots.
Probably anyone who’s shocked at this happening.
All the people who said to ‘punish’ the Democrats by not voting or voting for Russian assets Jill Stein or Donald Trump.
How long do people think it will take for there to be shooting over this? Not everyone is going to just let people get disappeared in front of them without doing anything.
Liberals in America have willingly neutered themselves over the past 70 years. The only group in America willing to resort to anti government violence is currently in power.
From 1933 to 1934 in 3 months. Clock is ticking dear american people.
Meanwhile Rubio is proudly bragging about revoking student visas entirely for pro-Palestinian speech. Marco Rubio is not the voice of reason in the white house, he’s an enemy of the Constitution.
I mean, imagine if we sided with Castro government back in the 60’s, rubio’s family would have been sent to concentration camps.
The only good fascist is a dead one.
Ozturk’s lawyer later said she hadn’t been able to contact her and had no idea of her whereabouts.
America, the land of the free… Right?
Remember when conservatives were all like fear mongering that Obama was going to do this to them? It was always projection.
I implore you to go search “Ozturk” on YouTube. A video from the NY Post comes up. Read the comments. I cannot believe the reaction of such an un-empathetic population.
Thank you for this. I wish I didn’t but at least I know now that this is what the US wants. This is what they voted for. No more rights. No more constitutional protection. No freedom. The land of the privileged.
You’re assuming 90% of those are not bots.
I absolutely believe at least half of them are just deplorable humans.
YouTube is a cesspool on a good day. If you know where to look (such as “anti-woke” “content” creators’ videos), you can easily find an overwhelming number of shitheads in the comments cheering for overt bigotry or violence against others. A recent news topic and barely-moderated videos of a non-white woman getting disappeared? They’re coming out of the woodwork for that, guaranteed.
Does it really help you to pretend that our enemies don’t actually exist? No, your fellow Americans actually do hold these beliefs. They want this and they would not hesitate to do the same to you.
These are the same people who go on and on about how the “vast majority” of americans are not supporting the actions of their government. They need to think like this, that someone else will fix things, otherwise they might have to take some action themselves.
You’re assuming a whole lot of things about me. For instance, that I am even American. Chill. I said no such thing.
Neither did I?
They need to think like this, that someone else will fix things, otherwise they might have to take some action themselves.
How can I “fix things” or “take some action” myself if I am not American? Care to explain?
For many years I was against punching nazis. It was time for debate. I am still against punching peaceful protestors.
But secret police deserve more than a punch.
Nazis want to murder people for simply existing. We should always be for punching Nazis
Okay, please think about what happens next… Do you want to bring your fists to a gun fight? Do you think Nazis dont know how to use guns? Have you ever been in a fight? I havent.
But there is some fantasy that you knock this guy out in one punch, you are surrounded by cheering crowds, they hoist you on their shoulders and take you away to a bar.
In reality, a bunch of other Nazis, with actual weapons, immediately step in and take you and your friends to a black site.
Their safety should not be a given. Make them fucking terrified.
Most Americans: Yeah but it didn’t happen to me.
This. The average American isn’t uncomfortable enough to make a stand. They still have food, jobs, housing, schools, transportation. While the average American’s needs are met, I doubt much will happen.
“Yeah but it didn’t happen to me.”…Until it did.
Could Canada PLEASE annex the Pacific Coast states? Most of us didn’t vote for this!
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
