Banner Supporting Detained Tufts Student Removed From New England Revolution Match

"Is "United by Defiance" actually one of our core values, or is it just an empty marketing slogan?"

While Saturday was a successful day for the New England Revolution on the pitch as the club secured its first win of 2025, an incident that saw a group of fans leave the match left a shadow over the festivities.

During the first half of the Revolution’s home match against New York Red Bulls, some Revolution fans in the stands displayed a banner that read “Free Rumeysa.”

Rumeysa refers to Tufts University student Rumeysa Öztürk who was detained by federal officials outside of an off-campus apartment in Somerville. The officials were in plain clothes when they surrounded Öztürk. The officers did not show their badges until she was restrained.

The student was in the United States on a valid F-1 visa, which allows international students to pursue full-time academic studies. Ozturk’s visa status has been terminated, according to a statement released by Tufts President Sunil Kumar.

Now, Ozturk is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Ozturk is alleged with supporting Hamas, according to DHS.

“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa,“ Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

A federal judge in Boston issued an order to stop Ozturk from being deported. The op-ed that is being referred to is an op-ed where the Tufts student voices her support for Palestine and calls for Tufts to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide”.

One of the New England Revolution fans involved with the banner spoke with The Blazing Musket on the condition of anonymity. They stated that they decided to make the banner the morning of the match and spray painted the banner in the parking lot.

“Once the banner was created, I alerted the team ahead of time that I intended to bring the banner into stadium,” they said. “This is standard practice for a banner of that size. It was clearly communicated to me that the banner was rejected due to MLS's policy on "political messaging". I brought the banner into the stadium with full knowledge that it was not allowed from the New England Revolution's perspective.

“Rumeysa Ozturk was kidnapped off of the sidewalk in our community,” they later said. “She is one of our neighbors. She is being held as a prisoner for breaking no laws. Is it "politics" not to want our neighbors kidnapped?”

According to the MLS Fan Code of Conduct, “displaying signs, symbols or images for commercial purposes or for electioneering, campaigning or advocating for or against any candidate, political party, legislative issue, or government action” is prohibited.

The Revolution fan made it clear that no supporters’ group was involved. The group of fans made a concerted effort not to be near the supporters’ section when the banner was unfurled.

Once the banner was unfurled, TeamOps (security staff) at Gillette Stadium would arrive at the scene. One source stated that the group was reported to security which saw TeamOps come over to where the banner was unfurled. The source also claimed that security tried to take the sign away, but the group of fans resisted and said they’d rather get arrested.

The Revolution fan denied this claim and also added that TeamOps ripped the banner out of the group of fans’ hands.

“We did not try to get the banner back because we already had it on record that the banner was not allowed in the first place, so that would have been futile,” they said.

“Our preference absolutely would have been to be in stadium with the banner visible for the full game,” they later said. “Because that was not going to happen, we had fully accepted before the start of the game that the logical conclusion to this was likely our removal, as we would be publicly disobeying their ruling on the banner. So once the banner was gone, we were content for the removal part to get itself over with, since that's what we "deserved" for knowingly breaking the rules.”

The Revolution fan also stated that they may have sarcastically quipped, "Buddy, I would LOVE for you to kick us out".

“But that was because we already accepted that was the inevitable outcome going in, and I was feeling pretty disillusioned about the team not allowing a display of support for the basic human rights of one of our neighbors,” the Revolution fan added.

Soon after, another set of security staff arrived. According to the Revolution fan, the group was told by a supervisor that they would receive a letter of disinvite if security wasn’t allowed to escort the group out of the stadium.

“We knew going in that this was a likely outcome after the team had already officially rejected the banner, so we did not resist and allowed TeamOps to escort us out,” the fan said. “Most people along the aisle on our way out expressed support for our decision to protest.”

When approached for comment, a team spokesperson told The Blazing Musket that the fans were not asked to leave the match.

“We were quick to accept the TeamOps supervisor's offer of being removed by them rather than potentially face disinvite, and we walked out peacefully while being flanked by Team Ops,” the Revolution fan said.

The Revolution fan noted that they supported the club for basically their entire life, becoming a fan of the club at age six.

“It is important to me that this club and this community actually stands for something,” they said. “Showing support for an unjustly kidnapped neighbor feels like the bare minimum. Is "United by Defiance" actually one of our core values, or is it just an empty marketing slogan?

“One of the things that makes soccer different than other sports is that it is truly built on community,” they later said. “Soccer fans have a unique ability to organize and use the sport as an avenue to directly express a community's values in a way that can be built on to enact real change. At a Revs game, you are welcome regardless of your immigration status, your race, your religion, or whether you dared to write an op-ed in your student paper. We should want those values to be applicable across New England. Rumeysa Ozturk came to New England to study in a safe environment and was kidnapped in front of our eyes for doing nothing wrong. This is unacceptable, and it is up to all of us to make clear that this is unacceptable.”