Whatever you think of Israel or Palestine, the ability to freely express political opinions is the bedrock of our U.S. Constitution. But, as the video above shows, Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish national studying at Tufts University and in the U.S. legally, was arrested with Gestapo-like tactics. She was then hustled out of Massachusetts and eventually detained in Louisiana after she dared to criticize Israel.
Fortunately, a federal judge has recognized just how dangerously wrong the Trump administration is, at least in this case. Judge William Sessions had previously ordered Öztürk to be returned to a Vermont facility. But on Friday, he decided not to wait for her physical transportation before ordering her release on bail.
Judge Sessions said the Trump administration’s behavior raised “very significant due process concerns,” The Guardian reported, and that Öztürk’s detention “potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of individuals in this country who are not citizens.” He also found “absolutely no evidence that that [sic] she has engaged in violence or advocated violence. She has no criminal record … [and] she does not pose a danger to the community.”
