By MALACHY BROWNE, CHRIS CIRILLO, TROY GRIGGS, JOSH KELLER and NATALIE RENEAU
The New York Times reviewed videos and photos to track the actions of 24 men, including armed members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security detail, who attacked protesters in Washington last week. Many of the protesters were American citizens.
The men kicked people lying on the ground and put a woman in a chokehold just a mile from the White House. They outnumbered the protesters nearly two to one.
The State Department has condemned the episode, and some American lawmakers have called for the men to be prosecuted. But none have been charged with a crime. Here’s what video of the main actors shows about the identities of the men and the roles they played in the clash.
Ten of the men who attacked protesters appear to be part of a formal security detail. They dressed in dark suits, and they wore in-ear radio receivers, Turkish breast pins and lanyards with identification cards. At least four of the men carried guns.
Two of these men charged protesters and appeared to start the main part of the fight.
We used five camera angles to track the movements of these two men throughout the melee. One man’s identity card shows Turkish and American flags and Turkey’s presidential seal, suggesting he is a member of the delegation visiting the United States.