No probable cause ‘right now’ to arrest Turkish president, says police chief
Metropolitan Police announced Thursday that they had arrested four people and issued arrest warrants for 14 others in connection to attacks by Turkish security personnel on U.S. protesters last month near the Turkish ambassador’s residence.
The warrants are for 12 men and one woman who were part of President Tayyip Recep Erdogan’s security detail. Police also issued warrants for two Canadian nationals.
Nine people and a police officer were wounded May 16 in a melee at Sheridan Square in Northwest. Video footage captured by news cameras and cellphones showed peaceful, pro-Kurdish demonstrators being surrounded or pushed to the ground and then kicked, punched and choked by members of Mr. Erdogan’s security team.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said investigators compared screen shots of video footage with visas and passport images to identify the attackers. She praised D.C. police, the Secret Service, the State Department and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for working together to identify the perpetrators.
Police are are expected to release video footage and photographs of attackers they have yet to identify, and ask for the public’s help in making the identifications.
“We take our position in the United States, as the nation’s capital, very seriously,” Miss Bowser said. “We host over millions of people who come to the seat of their government to protest peacefully. We support them, we make sure they are safe, but we also make sure they follow our laws and — certainly — anyone traveling to the United States will be held to that same standard. We will defend the First Amendment, and we will make sure that our laws are being enforced.”
Turkey’s president is furious the US wants to arrest his security agents
