WASHINGTON (AP) – A total of 19 people, including 15 identified as Turkish security officials, were indicted Tuesday by a grand jury in the U.S. capital for attacking protesters in May 2017 during a U.S. visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The indictments charge the defendants with attacking peaceful demonstrators who had gathered on May 16 outside the home of the Turkish ambassador, awaiting Erdogan’s arrival after he had met with President Donald Trump at the White House.
The case threatens to further complicate already tense relations between the two NATO allies. Ankara strongly opposes the U.S. decision to arm Syrian Kurdish rebels fighting the Islamic State group in Syria. Turkey views the Syrian Kurds as an extension of its own outlawed Turkish Kurdish movement and opposes any moves that could lead to the formation of an independent Kurdish state.
All 19 defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime of violence, a felony punishable by a statutory maximum of 15 years in prison. Several face additional charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Sixteen of the defendants had already been charged on June 13; Tuesday’s indictment adds three new defendants, all Turkish security officials. Two of the defendants were arrested in June and face an initial court hearing on Sept. 7. The rest remain at large.