LISTEN: D.C. Police Chief Condemned Fight Outside Turkish Embassy

By Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Police Chief Peter Newsham condemned a fight that happened during a protest outside the Turkish Embassy Tuesday evening. The clash happened between protestors and Turkish security hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited President Donald Trump at the White House. Newsham called the incident, which injured 11 people including one police officer, a brutal attack on peaceful protestors and added it appeared to be unprovoked.

“That’s not something that we will tolerate here in Washington, D.C. This is a city where people should be allowed to come and peacefully protest,” Newsham told reporters.

In a statement State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert echoed that sentiment: “Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest. We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strong possible terms.”

A video showed D.C. Police and officers from other agencies rushing in as people, including armed men in suits, kicked and punched each other. Many people were knocked to the ground and beat up, including Lucy Usoyan, president and founder of the Ezidi Relief Fund, a non-profit which supports Ezidis and Kurds in Turkey and Syria.

“They [a group of people dressed like special security forces] just ran against us, and they attacked us, and next thing I know I was on the ground. While I was on the ground I just felt that someone is beating me,” Usoyan told the Larry O’Connor Show Wednesday.

Newsham called police involvement “very dicey” because they had to safely restore order in a situation where some participants were armed. His department is working to figure out if the armed men had permits for the firearms.

Usoyan expressed her gratitude to police officers and said they did their best to protect protestors despite having limited resources.

“None of us were expecting that it will turn to such violent event,” Usoyan said.

Two people were arrested: 42-year-old Jalal Kheirabaoi of Fairfax and 49-year-old Ayten Necmi of Woodside, New York. The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests could be made. Newsham said anyone who was involved in the assault will be held accountable. He acknowledged that some people may have diplomatic immunity but added that wouldn’t prevent them from doing what they need to do.