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.

  • Englishgrinn@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    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.

    • MountainVeil@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      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.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        2 months ago

        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.

        • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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          2 months ago

          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.

    • Flames5123@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      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?

  • hemmes@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    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??

      • DegenerationIP@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Yep. People just disappearing. There are already a lot of reports. Its straight up facism at work. Thats terrifying.

            • y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              2 months ago

              There are already a lot of reports.

              This post is one report.

              The claim is that there are lots of reports of this happening.

              I know about the 2020 plainclothes, masked, secret police kidnappings, and I know of this one. Are there others, or was the “lots of reports” just made up?

              Edit: grammar. removed a (hopefully) unnecessary comma

            • y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              2 months ago

              So, no?

              If you make a claim, the burden of proof lies on you, not the other person to internet search for a mystery article.

              Are you referring to the BLM protest arrests in 2020 or is there something current happening beyond this one instance?

              I’m not saying this isn’t bad, nor that it won’t get worse, but if it’s already worse, and you’re making the claim that it is, I’d like to see some evidence of that.

    • Canyon201@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      hey kind of a random question but there is a tankie on my groupchat that i want to send proof of china disappearing people can you show me something i can send her to shut her up about how good china is?

      • snek_boi@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        It sounds as if you’re frustrated at her for not recognizing that people disappear in China, sometimes people like critics of the government. Do you think there’s absolutely nothing good that China does?

        • IDrawPoorly@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          Yeah, what about all the good the US China (of course I meant China!) does, that should make up for their war crimes and crimes against humanity against their own citizens.

          • snek_boi@lemmy.ml
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            2 months ago

            Sure, recognizing the light when it’s eclipsed by plenty of shadow can seem cartoonish. We can decide to close our eyes and be left in the darkness. We can decide not to pay attention or learn from something we deem unacceptable.

            Is there absolutely nothing that China is doing that the rest of the world could learn from? Do you know how much China is investing in green energy in relation to the west? Do you think I am unable to recognize problems in China while at the same time recognizing that it is the single largest investor in green energy on Earth today? Do you think I’m unable to recognize that the United States has a great elite educational system? Or that I’m unable to recognize that the USA has amazing elite research facilities? Or that during the twentieth century it was a world leader in terms of State investments in strategic technologies?

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Look at their body language.

    These aren’t law enforcement professionals detaining a suspect.

    These are Nazi Brown Shirt thugs ganging up on a fucking PhD student.

    This country is nosediving HARD. Arm yourselves. I would never allow plain-clothed thugs to push me into an unmarked van and take me to a secondary location. You are fighting for your life at that point for all you know.

    • smoresrock@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Nazi? You, sir, are ridiculous and have no sense of nationalism. Hamas, who would not have your back or mine, is quite obviously the problem in Palestine, and this PhD student (as if that makes a difference) is supporting the wrong side. The US is revoking visas of Hamas supporters. Hence, she’s being detained to ultimately have her visa revoked. What part of that aren’t you following?

      • Furbag@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        We have due process in this country. If you don’t like that, then fuck off.

        • smoresrock@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Lmao. Couple things: 1) relax, and 2) she wasn’t incarcerated; her visa was revoked. That doesn’t require due process, since they’re discretionary.

          Take it easy, man.

          • uselessRN@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Her visa was revoked for what? By what judge? Why was she detained? You claim she’s “wrong”. By whose standard? Trump? He’s the ultimate deciding force? What happens when you’re wrong? Can we revoke your citizenship?

            • smoresrock@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              Rapid fire over here. Okay, here goes:

              • For being a Hamas supporter.
              • By no judge. Due process is not mandatory in this case.
              • She was detained because she’s a Hamas supporter.
              • By The standard designated to terrorist supporters.
              • Yes, Trump. He is our president after all. Commander in Chief and head of the executive branch
              • The policies put in place against terrorists and supporters thereof is the “ultimate deciding force.”
              • What happens if I’m wrong about what?
              • How are citizenships revoked? If there’s a way, and I meet those conditions, then yes.