The New Video of Federal Agents Ambushing a Student and Disappearing With Her Should Chill You to Your Core

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Ph.D. scholar on a student visa at Tufts University, was walking down a street in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Tuesday night to meet friends to break her Ramadan fast when a man in a dark hoodie and baseball cap crossed the street toward her. Chilling surveillance footage shows the moment he approaches: “Excuse me, ma’am,” he says politely, his tone disarming. Ozturk hesitates and tries to sidestep him. Another man in plainclothes appears across the street. One reaches for a radio. The other moves in. Watch, with the sound on:

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.