WASHINGTON — Police are set to announce charges against a dozen Turkish security agents who stormed into a crowd of protesters, beating many of them, when Turkey’s president visited the capital last month, a U.S. official said Wednesday.
Women were arrested for their role in the fracas.
The Metropolitan Police Department said in a brief statement that Sinan Narin arrested in Virginia on an aggravated assault charge. The D.C. police are expected to reveal Thursday that seven men are being charged for felonies, and another five for misdemeanors. The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and spoke only on condition of anonymity ahead of a Thursday news conference that includes Washington’s mayor and police chief.
One of the men, Eyup Yildirim, was arrested in New Jersey on Wednesday for charges of assault with significant bodily injury and aggravated assault.
The action is likely to exacerbate what has become a major irritant in U.S.-Turkish ties. Relations were severely strained even before the May 16 clash happened as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived at the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington after a White Housemeeting withPresident Donald Trump.
The NATO allies are still at odds over a U.S. decision to arm Syrian Kurdish rebels fighting the Islamic State group in Syria. Turkey considers the fighters to be an extension the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey known as the PKK, and claims without evidence that protesters who showed up during Erdogan’s visit to Washington last week were themselves associated with the group. U.S. officials have said law-abiding Americans were affected.
Erdogan’s security detail returned with him to Turkey after his visit, so it is unclear if any will face legal repercussions in the United States. However, they could end up being threatened with arrest if they return to the U.S. If any are still in the country, they could be expelled if Turkey refuses to waive diplomatic immunity.
Video of the protest showed security guards and some Erdogan supporters attacking a small group of protesters with their fists and feet. Men in dark suits and others were recorded repeatedly kicking one woman as she lay curled on a sidewalk. Another wrenched a woman’s neck and threw her to the ground. A man with a bullhorn was repeatedly kicked in the face.
After police officers struggled to protect the protesters and ordered the men in suits to retreat, several of the men dodged the officers and ran into the park to continue the attacks. In all, nine people were hurt.
Earlier Wednesday, police said Yildirim made his first appearance before Federal Magistrate James Clarke in Newark, N.J., who ordered him held without bail pending his next court date in Washington.
Public defender David Holman sought home confinement, arguing that Yildirim wasn’t a flight risk and had never been convicted of anything before. Clarke said he was less concerned with him being a possible flight risk and more concerned about the nature of the crime.
Holman told the judge that Yildirim has received death threats because of the case. He said Yildirim is a business owner with three kids and ties to the local community. Prosecutors told the judge Yildirim had been arrested twice in the late 90s on simple assault charges, but the charges were later dismissed.