A dozen men who traveled with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the U.S. last month have been charged criminally for a high-profile attack on protesters in the nation's capital.

The Turkish guards were filmed May 16 breaking through a police line, then kicking and punching protesters who had been chanting "baby-killer Erdogan" as the authoritarian leader arrived at the Turkish ambassador's home.

The attack outraged American lawmakers, and the House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution calling for prosecution of assailants.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham announced the charges at a Thursday press conference, saying that "in the United States, and particularly in the District of Columbia, we hold our ability to peacefully protest as a sacred right."

Newsham said arrest warrants for assault were issued for 12 Turkish citizens, including nine Turkish security officers and three Turkish police officers. He said police would like the public's help to identify additional assailants.

Two U.S. citizens who allegedly participated in the attack – Sinan Narin of Virginia and Eyup Yildirim of New Jersey – were arrested this week on felony assault charges, and two Canadians also have been charged.

Erdogan, arriving at the ambassador's home after meeting President Donald Trump at the White House, could be seen in footage captured by Voice of America watching the attack after appearing to relay a message to the assailants.

Newsham said police do not currently have plans to seek an arrest warrant against Erdogan, whose precise role in the attack remains unclear.

"We don't have any evidence right now to suggest we have probable cause to make an arrest of the president," he said.

The Turkish embassy in Washington declined to comment Thursday morning. Spokespeople for the embassy and the Turkish foreign ministry have ignored repeated requests for comment on whether Erdogan ordered the attack.

Two of Erdogan’s guards were briefly detained and released on the day of the incident and allowed to return to Turkey. The State Department said the men enjoyed customary diplomatic immunity as members of a visiting heads of state’s entourage.

Several former State Department legal advisers, however, told U.S. News traveling guards likely would enjoy diplomatic immunity only if there was an agreement before Erdogan visited. Officials who do enjoy immunity lose protection when they leave their posts.

“They were given a free pass out of the country,” says Aram Suren Hamparian, executive director of Armenian National Committee of America, which helped organize the anti-Erdogan protest.

“We should ask Turkey to extradite these people back to the U.S. for trial, where they can explain why they kicked people in the head,” says Hamparian, who says he was not assaulted during the Sheridan Circle clash.

One victim shown in the Voice of America footage being kicked as she lay on the ground, U.S. citizen Lucy Usoyan, who leads the Ezidi Relief Fund, says she is pleased to hear about the criminal charges.

“I’m excited to see that the Turkish government is being held accountable. I think it’s a significant event and it’s a historical moment that we all have to remember,” she says.

But Usoyan says more needs to be done.

“This was ordered specifically by President Erdogan himself. There is no doubt about it, and I think he needs to apologize,” she says, adding that she hopes Trump personally will address the matter.

Watch: Footage of the attack:



Usoyan says she continued to experience anxiety and symptoms from her head injuries. She says she suffered a spell of severe dizziness Wednesday.

Ceren Borazan, a Turkish citizen living in New Jersey who was pictured in a headlock during the attack, says, “I’m thankful for the justice system of the United States” and that she hopes the perpetrators will face trial.

Borazan, a Kurd, says she cannot return to Turkey because of the fallout and that the attack “changed my life.”

President @realDonaldTrump can you please speak up for freedom of expression and right of peaceful demonstration. #FreedomOfSpeech pic.twitter.com/vNQAmXReN0 — Ceren Borazan (@CerenBorazan) May 17, 2017

Sayid Reza Yasa, a Kurdish-American U.S. citizen who was among the most seriously injured, says the charges are “great news."

“Someone has to tell them, ‘Hey, this is not Turkey. This is a free country,’” he says.

Yasa, 60, was kicked repeatedly by guards as he lay on a sidewalk. He says he suffered a concussion and a broken nose. He lost one tooth and another is loose.

“There still is a bump on my nose,” he says. “I have memory problems right now. Other than that, I’m OK.”

Yasa and Usoyan are planning to file lawsuits. Yasa says others plan to do so as well. Borazan declined to comment on her plans.

In addition to the two Turkish personnel who were briefly detained, police arrested two activists, charging Ayten Necmi of Woodside, New York, with aggravated assault and Jalal Kheirabaoi of Fairfax, Virginia, with assaulting a police officer. One is believed to be an Erdogan supporter, the other an opponent.

In a recent statement, the Turkish foreign ministry said it hoped "developments regarding this matter, which we will be following closely, will not overshadow the visit which we consider was productive."

Consequences are likely to reverberate, however.

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and sponsor of the unanimous House measure, said the State Department should demand extradition of the guards and scrap a proposed $1.2 million sale of semiautomatic weapons to Erdogan's security force. Such sales generally are not presented to Congress for a possible up-or-down vote unless there's approval from the top Republican and Democrat on the House and Senate foreign relations committees.

"These types of unprovoked attacks on innocent Americans and their Constitutional rights can never happen again," Royce said in a statement.

Video: Erdogan watches attack:



A spokesman for the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, which will prosecute the men if they return, did not immediately provide comment.

Turkey and Erdogan supporters attempted to cast blame on the attack victims as the incident attracted international attention.

A correspondent for Turkey's state-owned Anadolu news agency wrote that when Erdogan arrived nearby “protesters continued their grave insults, so some Turkish citizens and the head of the president’s security detail stepped in.”