A video has emerged showing moments where US immigration officials, with masks and hoodies, detained a doctoral student from Tufts University in Massachusetts and took her into an unmarked car.

Rumeysa Ozturk was taken into custody by federal immigration agents on Tuesday and was being held at the South Louisiana Ice processing center as of Wednesday, according to the government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website.

Security camera footage shows Ozturk walking down the street before she is approached by several masked figures. They forcefully take her phone and backpack, put her in handcuffs, and cover their faces. Some even wear badges around their necks.

When Ozturk screams, an onlooker, who was recording the scene, asks, “Is this a kidnapping?” The unidentified bystander seems to question why the agents’ faces are covered.

Separate footage shows the agents responding, claiming they are the police, to which the bystander replies that they don’t look like police and asks why they are hiding their faces.

This detainment may have violated a federal court order, which required the DHS and ICE to give the court a 48-hour notice before attempting to detain her outside of Massachusetts.

In response to this, a federal judge has ordered the DHS and ICE to answer an emergency request in court to produce Ozturk by 9 am ET on Thursday.

Ozturk’s detention is part of a series of arrests targeting students not accused of any criminal activity, but involved in pro-Palestinian activism on campus. This has been seen as a sharp escalation in anti-immigration crackdowns and suppression of political speech by the Trump administration.

According to DHS, Ozturk, who is from Turkey, has been supporting Hamas, which is considered a foreign terrorist organization by the US. This has led to accusations of her violating the terms of her visa.

Tufts University claims that it wasn’t aware of this incident and did not provide any information to federal authorities beforehand. The university confirms that Ozturk, who is a Fulbright scholar pursuing her doctorate in philosophy, had her student visa terminated.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemns this act as a violation of free speech and academic freedom. Reports show Ozturk’s involvement in pro-Palestinian activism at Tufts.