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Categories Politics

DOJ Says Deported Brown University Doctor’s Phone Contained ‘Sympathetic Photos’ of Hezbollah Leaders, Admitted to Atttending Terror Leader’s Funeral

March 17, 2025

Brown University doctor Rasha Alawieh was deported to Lebanon./Image: Basma Merhi/Brown University

On Thursday, Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, an assistant professor at Brown University’s medical school, was stopped and subsequently deported at Boston Logan International Airport for allegedly having “sympathetic photos and videos” of prominent Hezbollah figures in a deleted items folder phone.

Alawieh, who is Lebanese, also told Customs and Border Protection agents that she attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah while visiting Lebanon last month.

Nasrallah was killed in September 2024 during an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah’s central command bunker headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon.

According to Politico, Alawieh claimed she attended the terror leader’s funeral and follows his teachings “from a religious perspective,” not a political one,  according to a report from an immigration officer.

Hilton Beckham, the assistant commissioner of public affairs for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), issued the following statement:

“Arriving aliens bear the burden of establishing admissibility to the United States. Our CBP officers adhere to strict protocols to identify and stop threats, using rigorous screening, vetting, strong law enforcement partnerships, and keen inspectional skills to keep threats out of the country. CBP is committed to protecting the United States from national security threats.”

DHS shared details of Alawieh’s deportation in a statement saying, “Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah— a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree.”

“Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah.”

“A visa is a privilege not a right—glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security.”

US District Judge for the District of Massachusetts Leo Sorokin, an Obama appointee, originally ordered an in-person hearing on Alawieh’s case to take place on Monday, but federal agents say they were not notified through the proper channels before placing her on a flight to Paris and then on to Lebanon.

Fox News reports:

Sorokin ordered that Alawieh not be deported for at least 48 hours without giving the court 48 hours notice. Alawieh was reportedly placed on a flight to Paris anyway and then arrived back in Lebanon over the weekend.

Sorokin reportedly postponed Monday’s hearing just before it was scheduled to start and rescheduled it for March 25 to give the DOJ more time to respond to allegations federal agents ignored a court order in sending Alawieh out of the U.S.

CBP official John Wallace said in an affidavit that federal agents were not notified of the court order through the proper channels before Alawieh was placed on an Air France flight Friday, Politico reported.

According to CBS Boston, Alawieh’s lawyers have withdrawn from the case as a result of ‘due diligence.’

The post DOJ Says Deported Brown University Doctor’s Phone Contained ‘Sympathetic Photos’ of Hezbollah Leaders, Admitted to Atttending Terror Leader’s Funeral appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.