Dear Neighbor,
You have almost certainly seen the news coverage by local, metro, national, and international media of Rumeysa Ozturk, abducted on a Somerville street without a warrant by at least six masked ICE agents who claimed to be police.
The video of her abduction has been circulated through all those media and far more.
Tuesday, on less than a day's notice, thousands of us gathered in Powderhouse Park in the first of many protests. The protest also generated a lot of coverage. People with opposing views on other issues, including Israel and Palestine, were united in outrage.
This is a version of one of the signs that day. I wrote last week about a fuller version of the Pastor Niemoller quote, "First they came for..." The Nazis came for many people, not just communists, socialists, unions, and Jews, but disabled people, Roma, and dissidents - including eventually Niemoller, after he turned against them. Rumeysa Ozturk is a member of SEIU 509, which brought members to the rally.
On Tuesday, I posted this statement:
The assault on free speech and due process is obvious.
While no charges have been filed, we understand that the cause was an op ed she wrote in the Tufts Daily, which supported the demands of the Tufts Community Union Senate. The Bill of Rights refers to the rights of "people,' not just citizens.
“Rümeysa Öztürk’s unlawful arrest and detention is yet another escalation of this administration’s efforts to silence speech,” said Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “No person, regardless of their immigration status, can be arrested, detained, or deported as punishment for their political views. Ideas — and certainly op-eds — are not illegal. The First Amendment protects all of us.”
This is only part of the assault on higher education.
The administration, which harbors actual anti-Semites who give Nazi salutes, is weaponizing charges of anti-Semitism to dismantle higher education.
Columbia was the first to capitulate. Faced with the loss of $400 million in federal aid, they agreed to most of the administration’s demands, including banning face masks on campus, empowering security officers to remove or arrest individuals, and taking control of the department that offers courses on the Middle East.
Even after Columbia's surrender, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said "there was no timetable to restore the university’s funding but that Columbia was 'on the right track.'" A former professor says "the university was told “unless we as faculty and students take a pro-Israeli position, it [the university] will be sanctioned. And Columbia's president resigned.
While Columbia gets over a billion dollars in federal aid a year, close to a fifth of its revenue, the number $400,000 is intriguing. The New York Times reported, "In the late 1990s, Donald Trump owned property in Manhattan. He wanted to sell it to Columbia University, which was looking to expand. He wanted $400 million. The university administration said no. Trump was furious, stormed out of a meeting. Now he has taken $400 million in federal funds from Columbia. Coincidence?"
Meanwhile, Harvard removed two leaders of the Center for Middle Eastern studies.
Robert Kuttner wrote in depth about the danger of capitulation, and even anticipatory appeasement, here. He includes this statement by the president of Wesleyan, one of a very few universities to push back: “It’s a Vichy moment in American history,” Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan University, told me... “Like I have a restaurant and if I collaborate with the Nazis and don’t let any Jews eat here, then the guys who wash dishes will still have jobs. As you know, that slope is very slippery. Appeasement doesn’t end well.”
Sixty universities face loss of funding by this kind of executive order. But they also face the loss of tens of billions of dollars in grants for research, which sustain many departments.
Colleges and universities are facing the loss of foreign students. Inside Higher Education reported that "International students are a financial lifeline for many colleges, and enrollments are just recovering from the pandemic. The Trump administration is pushing them away."
As Trump destroys the Department of Education, private equity firms are eager to take over student loans and managing colleges.
This is an assault on lawyers.
The administration filed executive orders banning attorneys of three law firms from entering government buildings, restricting contact between federal officials and the firm's attorneys, and requiring administration review of the firm's contracts with federal contractors.
On Friday, a second law firm surrendered to the administration, agreeing to provide $100 million in pro bono services to initiatives backed by the administration.
However, two major law firms are pushing back, suing to stop the executive orders against them.
This is McCarthyism.
Many people are comparing the assault on free speech and universities to the rise of Nazism. It is also comparable to the McCarthy period in the United States, when people were targeted for allegedly being communists. People's careers and lives were disrupted, and universities and the movie industry - among others - were damaged.
My father was fired from his position as campus minister at the University of Texas in 1950 after a newspaper columnist accused him of communist sympathies because he ran integrated student conferences. We left Texas and never moved back, despite my mother's and grandparents' fervent wishes.
Congressman Steven Lynch: This is a "reminder of Gestapo-like conduct."
The Herald reported that:
“This is reminiscent of, you know, 1939 occupied Poland when people got bundled off, you know,” Congressman Stephen Lynch said in a video. “In those days, it was Jews being bundled off by the Nazis, but you know, this is not right. This is not right.
“This is not protecting us from criminal aliens or gang members,” he added. “This is just abducting innocent students who have come here to Boston for learning.” Lynch also called the arrest a “sickening reminder of the Gestapo-like conduct from another age.”
Being anonymous: protestors, ICE, Canary Mission
Is it irony or hypcrisy that one of the demands Columbia capitulated on was banning masks on campus?
The ICE agents wore masks, and misidentified themselves as police.
Some protesters on Tuesday wore masks, afraid of being doxxed, harassed, or worse. Their fears are reasonable, given that the students who were taken had been doxxed by Canary Mission.
Canary Mission does not identify its own members or leaders.
Knocking down doors, pointing rifles in New Bedford
The people in this story from the New Bedford Light weren't academics. They were immigrants; ICE behavior was even more Gestapo-like. After terrorizing the family and taking away two people, an ICE agent wished them a nice day.
Fear is the goal and the result
There have been well over 300 detentions of people in Massachusetts, most of which we know nothing about. There have been several in Somerville, most of which we don't know about. Many immigrants are afraid to go to public places. Ward 1 City Councilor Matt McLaughlin talked about the effect on local restaurants in this article.
Universities and law firms are ending programs, laying off staff, and attempting to keep the administration away. Students and faculty are avoiding legal protests that could get them expelled or even deported.
What can we do?
I've previously written about things we can do, like daily suggestions from chopwoodcarrywater. Is it a coup? shares semi-daily updates on steps toward and away from a coup.
Choose Democracy has suggestions for "What can I do to fight this coup?"
There's the demonstration and march next Saturday on Boston Common.
See something? Say something! You can get involved and volunteer for the Statewide Rapid Response Hotline. Luce, the hotline, has multilingual staff (currently Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and French) and can be reached at 617-370-5023 daily from 5am-9pm. The group was formed by a coalition of non-profits and grassroots organizers across the state, they are all listed on the website, and lots of additional information can be found here. Maybe put the number in your phone.
Somerville Ward 1 Councilor Matt McLaughlin wrote:
"Many are asking what our Sanctuary City status means and what, if anything, they can do to help. SOIA (Somerville Office of Immigrant Affairs) is looking for residents to provide food delivery and other resources to families who have lost their primary providers. SOIA Director Maria Teresa Nagel says, "There is also a desperate need for lawyers who specialize in immigrant services. They are also looking for volunteer accredited representatives, which are non-attorneys, authorized to provide immigration legal services. Non-profit organizations can provide this training. Anyone interested in learning more can contact SOIA here."
There are ongoing demonstrations at Tesla sites. Learn about them at Tesla Takedown.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK: JOHN OLIVER ON DETENTION CENTERS
John Oliver reports on the profitability of private prisons housing ICE detainees. It didn't start with Trump.
Stay in touch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hpgu7wSUQQ&t=2s
https://view.email.wbur.org/?qs=13731d532eec935d4d3b7a39eb46efd0bf7cc073a289a5a04a3c5a729d19233147a997485f886b01e1bce3fb30892cdad1309d7b69134040efd402e72f639eaaca1513d467e168357e89fa0eef7b1440. including fear,.etc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hpgu7wSUQQ&t=2s.