College students, union leaders, officers rally for detained Tufts scholar

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Mayor Michelle Wu and Legal professional Normal Andrea Campbell joined audio system at Tuesday’s rally in help of detained Tufts scholar Rümeysa Öztürk.

College students, union leaders, and metropolis officers gathered in downtown Boston Tuesday to rally in help of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts graduate scholar who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Somerville final week.

Mayor Michelle Wu and Legal professional Normal Andrea Campbell had been among the many audio system who denounced the Trump administration’s crackdown on visa holders with connections to pro-Palestine protests.

The rally was led by SEIU Native 509 President Dave Foley and SEIU Worldwide President April Verrett. Öztürk is a member of SEIU Native 509 by way of the Tufts Grad Employees Union.

“We labored tirelessly to place this collectively on quick discover with the only function of demanding the liberty of Rümeysa, who’s in detention proper now illegally,” Foley informed Boston.com. “It is a travesty that that is taking place.”

By 6 p.m. Tuesday, a crowd of greater than 100 protesters had fashioned exterior the JFK Federal Constructing on Sudbury Avenue. Protesters and labor union members carried indicators with messages comparable to “defend college students,” “labor towards fascism,” and “ICE out of our neighborhoods.”

“I’m glad to see of us inside SEIU organizing in solidarity with their sibling,” Ryan Black, a protester with the Boston Democratic Socialists of America, informed Boston.com. “All of us should be combating inside our workplaces and communities to reverse this earlier than issues get even worse.”

Foley launched the rally’s audio system, beginning with Verrett, who referred to as Öztürk “our household” and rallied the gang to not “give in to the concern of fascism.”

“The place I grew up, we by no means ever go away household behind, will we?” Verrett stated in her speech. “We’re going to be certain she feels this power, she feels this love all the way in which to the place she is in Louisiana.”

In between audio system, Foley thanked a number of metropolis officers who attended, together with metropolis councilors from Boston and Somerville. He shouted out the numerous unions and labor teams in attendance, together with the Boston Lecturers Union, Massachusetts Lecturers Affiliation, Native 26, United Auto Employees, and the Larger Boston Labor Council, amongst others.

In solidarity with labor as we demand for Rumeysa’s speedy launch pic.twitter.com/VBOWQ4aHzJ

— Benjamin Weber (@ben4district6) April 1, 2025

A number of of Öztürk’s fellow members of the Tufts Grad Employees Union shared their tales about her presence on campus as a “fixture” who fostered an “inclusive, inspiring, and intellectually wealthy group.”

After speeches from the scholars and an AFL-CIO consultant, Campbell took to the rostrum, lambasting the Trump administration and ICE for Öztürk’s detainment.

“By no means is the detainment and abduction of Rümeysa advancing public security right here in Massachusetts or on this nation,” Campbell stated in her speech. “It’s an insult to every part this nation stands for, and should you have no idea your historic context, you higher get to comprehend it actual fast.”

Wu expressed an identical sentiment, saying “the nation that so many people are combating for” is in “darkish occasions.”

“We’re asking unthinkable questions on whether or not we nonetheless stay in a democracy with rule of legislation, the place we’re protected for our individuality and our humanity, or if we live in a time when bullying and intimidation are how our authorities operates,” Wu stated in her speech. “This second is about Rümeysa, and this second is about one thing bigger and extra elementary. It’s about all of us. Due course of issues. Freedom issues. A society ruled by legal guidelines issues.”

Regardless of Wu’s fears concerning the state of the nation, she asserted that Boston would keep robust, echoing the rhetoric of her State of the Metropolis tackle final month.

“Boston won’t ever again right down to bullies, and on this second, in an onslaught of injustice, what we’re going to do is arise collectively,” Wu stated in her speech. “I wish to thank each considered one of you for persevering with the battle.”

State Senator Pat Jehlen of Somerville raised consciousness concerning the Luce Protection Hotline, a useful resource created by the Immigrant Justice Community of Massachusetts the place folks can report ICE or FBI exercise of their neighborhoods.

Jehlen additionally learn “First They Got here,” a poetic type of Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller’s well-known quote about Nazi rule, echoing the quote’s ultimate line.

“Trump is coming for all of us all of sudden, and there’s energy in solidarity,” Jehlen stated in her speech.

The protesters at Monday’s rally expressed delight in exhibiting that solidarity and its energy.

“I’ve been making an attempt to come back to each occasion I can that defends the rights of individuals and for the discharge of Rümeysa and Mahmoud Khalil,” Damian Durgin, a protester with the Boston Occasion for Socialism and Liberation, informed Boston.com.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey weren’t current; representatives learn statements on their behalf.

Dálida Rocha, the chief director of Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, inspired the state to maintain defending immigrant households and “proceed to battle for the soul of democracy.”

Foley introduced the gang collectively once more to finish the rally, main with the mantra, “Come for one, face us all, free Rümeysa, free all of them.”

SEIU has organized an e mail marketing campaign to submit statements supporting Öztürk to native publications.

Öztürk’s authorized crew has organized a fundraiser for her medical bills and bail or bond, if one is ready. As of Tuesday evening, the undertaking has raised greater than $94,000.