Following the arrest of Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, right-wing media were quick to cast her as a “pro-Hamas radical.” According to new reporting, however, the State Department had determined ahead of her arrest “that the Trump administration had not produced any evidence showing that she engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization,” despite the Department of Homeland Security’s claims that Ozturk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.”
Andrea Austria / Media Matters
Research/Study
Right-wing media baselessly promoted claim that Tufts student was associated with Hamas — an internal State Department memo said otherwise
In the weeks after a video of Rumeysa Ozturk’s arrest was released, figures across the right-wing media landscape parroted the administration's false claims, frequently accusing Ozturk of being “pro-Hamas”
Written by Harrison Ray & Noah Dowe
Published
-
Ozturk was arrested despite a lack of “any evidence” that she “engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization"
-
- On March 25, federal immigration agents arrested Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk over supposed “activities in support of Hamas.” In an emailed statement to The Washington Post, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that “DHS and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” The Post also reported that the Trump State Department had accused Ozturk of supporting Hamas, apparently over an op-ed Ozturk co-authored last year for the Tufts student newspaper “criticizing the university’s response to the Israel-Gaza war.” To date, Ozturk has not been charged with any crime, but her student visa has been revoked and she has been relocated to a detention center in Louisiana. [The Associated Press, 3/26/25; Politico, 4/3/25; The Washington Post, 4/13/25; WBUR, 4/11/25]
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio “did not offer specifics” on Ozturk’s detainment, but he suggested that his criteria for revoking visas includes “vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus.” At a news conference, Rubio told reporters, “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas.” [The Washington Post, 3/27/25]
- According to The Washington Post, the State Department had determined prior to Ozturk’s arrest that “the Trump administration had not produced any evidence showing that she engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization.” The State Department memo, according to the Post, appeared to undermine the administration’s claims and “said Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not have sufficient grounds for revoking Ozturk’s visa under an authority empowering the top U.S. diplomat to safeguard the foreign policy interests of the United States.” [The Washington Post, 4/13/25]
-
Right-wing media figures parroted the administration, frequently characterizing Ozturk as “pro-Hamas”
-
- Newsmax host Rob Schmitt said Ozturk was “evidently a rabid pro-Hamas protester.” Schmitt cheered on the administration, saying, “We’re seeing how they’re getting this cancer slowly out of our country.” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 3/26/25]
- Newsmax host Katrina Szish applauded the administration, saying it was “taking a hardline stance on foreign students attending U.S. colleges and universities with affinities for terror groups.” Szish also parroted the Trump administration's claim that Ozturk “engaged in, quote, ‘activities in support of Hamas.’” [Newsmax, American Agenda, 3/27/25]
- Schmitt later claimed Ozturk “moonlighted in pro-Hamas activities while enjoying the liberties of a Western education.” The network host added, “Ah, you a little scared, Rumeysa?” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 3/28/25]
- Newsmax host Chris Plante called Ozturk a “pro-Hamas agitator.” Plante also complained, “That is not a genocide [in Gaza], but … the people that she's defending are calling for an actual genocide of the Jewish people.” [Newsmax, The Right Squad, 3/28/25]
- Fox News guest and Washington Times correspondent Susan Ferrechio noted that Ozturk “did write an op-ed in support of Hamas." When fellow panelist Olivia Beavers said “being pro-Palestinian, pro-Palestine, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re pro-Hamas,” host Howard Kurtz responded, “Well, Hamas does rule that territory.” [Fox News, MediaBuzz, 3/30/25]
- Plante criticized media coverage of the arrest, citing research from Media Research Center to argue, “The media spent 10 times more airtime on the arrest of the pro-Hamas Turkish agitator at Tufts University last week than they spent on the arrest of the MS-13 thug.” Guest Mercedes Schlapp remarked, “Sometimes you have to wonder if the legacy media just loves Hamas, which is kind of disturbing.” [Newsmax, The Right Squad, 4/2/25]
- Newsmax host Lidia Curanaj claimed Ozturk was a “pro-Hamas Turkish agitator.” Curanaj cited MRC research to call coverage of Ozturk “hypocrisy from the leftist media.” [Newsmax, The Count, 4/5/25]
- Blaze Media’s Joseph Mackinnon claimed Ozturk was a “pro-Hamas radical.” [Blaze Media, 4/5/25]
-
Right-wing media figures defended Ozturk’s arrest
-
- Former Heritage Foundation research fellow Joel Griffith said it was “disturbing” that Ozturk “remained in the USA so long” and called to “deport her now.” [Twitter/X, 3/27/25]
- Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade praised the administration's arrest of Ozturk: “I love the message it's sending to other students causing unrest.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/27/25]
- The Federalist correspondent Brianna Lyman defended Ozturk’s arrest: “This is about whether openly anti-American and anti-West foreigners have a right to be here.” [The Federalist, 3/28/25]
- Post Millennial editor Angy Ngo accused “leftists” criticizing the administration's handling of Ozturk's arrest of wanting “to encourage mass migration by those who agitate against US interests.” [Twitter/X, 3/28/25]
- In a segment about Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, Kilmeade questioned “why any Democrat would stand up for [Mahmoud] Khalil who's sitting in Georgia, or with this Tufts woman, who is also in Georgia, who is writing anti-American phrases and acting out over at Tufts.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/31/25]
- Discussing Ozturk’s arrest, Fox anchor Harris Faulkner quoted a Washington Examiner op-ed by conservative writer Ian Haworth: "‘This isn't about free speech. It's about something deeper: the suicidal idea that America has some moral obligation to tolerate foreign-born subversion in the name of tolerance. That's not tolerance; that's surrender.’" [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 3/31/25]
- Daily Wire writer Jacob Falach praised the arrest of Ozturk as “a move in the right direction.” Falach added, “She is just one of countless students across the country who share a radical ideology.” [The Daily Wire, 4/13/25]