Update, June 14:

The New York Times reports that Washington DC law enforcement will file charges against a dozen members of the Turkish president's security team that was involved in a brutal attack on protesters last month.

BuzzFeed reports that two men have been arrested in connection with the altercation on May 16 in which members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security detail appeared to attack peaceful protestors.

The two men arrested were identified as Sinan Narin and Eyup Yildirim. Both were charged with felony and misdemeanor assault. DC Metropolitan Police spokesperson Rachel Reid told BuzzFeed News that both men are US citizens. Yildirim is from New Jersey, where he is currently awaiting extradition, and Narin is from Virginia. Police did not say where the men were arrested or how police zeroed in on them in the weeks following the fight.

[BuzzFeed]

Previously: Turkey's leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Washington DC on Tuesday to meet with the Trump administration. But while Erdogan and Trump's meeting went smoothly, the visit took a nasty turn.

Shocking video shot by a bystander appears to show members of Erdogan's security detail attacking protestors outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in DC, while the DC police try to contain the situation. 9 people were reportedly injured, and 2 arrested:

Another video, shot from behind President Erdogan's car at the Turkish ambassador's residence, shows Erdogan emerging from his car to watch his security detail attacking the protesters (you can see Erdogan emerge from the parked car at 1:14):

New video shows Turkey's Erdogan watching members of his security detail attack Kurdish protesters outside of the Turkish embassy in D.C. pic.twitter.com/OsnWUJD7EW — Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) May 18, 2017

If this Twitter thread from Washington Post writer Philip Bump is a correct read of the situation, Erdogan may have ordered the attack himself.

This isn't the first time Erdogan's bodyguards have roughed people up on American soil — during a visit last year, Turkish journalists were roughed up and harassed when they attempted to document a speech given by Erdogan at a DC think tank event:

"I saw his security detail kick a man and saw a colleague roughed up. I was looking around in shocked disbelief when one of the security detail said, 'What are you doing here?' He came up to my face and called me a 'PKK whore.' I told him he had no right to speak to me that way and it was unacceptable. They started taking photos of me, which suggested they were trying to intimidate me. I was not touched but it was very menacing."

[The Guardian]





Video of that incident:



