Law enforcement officials told The New York Times Wednesday that they will announce charges Thursday against a dozen members of Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s security detail over their violent attack on protestors in May outside the Turkish embassy.
An official told the Associated Press that “the DC police are expected to say that seven men are being charged for felonies, and another five for misdemeanors.”
Earlier Wednesday, D.C. police said that they have arrested two Americans already over the attack on protestors.
“Sinan Narin had been arrested in Virginia on an aggravated assault charge. It said Eyup Yildirim had been arrested in New Jersey on charges of assault with significant bodily injury and aggravated assault.”
"Now that charges have been filed, the Department will weigh additional actions for the named individuals, as appropriate under relevant laws and regulations," a spokesperson for the State Department said of the arrests. "Any further steps will be responsive and proportional to the charges or arrests."
The U.S. House of Representative unanimously passed a resolution last week condemning the violence by Erdogan's security detail.
Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel D-NY, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy R-CA, and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer D-MD said when introducing the resolution that the “unprovoked attack on peaceful protesters by Turkish security forces on American soil must not go unanswered and that those responsible must face justice.”
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Erdogan’s bodyguards have become violent on several other occasions on U.S. soil. The Times noted, “In 2011, they took part in a fight at the United Nations that sent at least one security officer to the hospital. And last year, the police and members of Mr. Erdogan’s security team clashed with demonstrators outside the Brookings Institution in Washington.”
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