Americans beaten by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s guards after his last White House visit say they are concerned that President Trump’s silence makes an attack more likely to happen again.
A coalition of anti-Erdoğan activists will return Wednesday afternoon to Sheridan Circle in Washington, where Erdoğan’s men broke through a police line in May 2017 to kick, punch, and choke activists.
“There’s some legitimate fear that a foreign leader is coming here with his security detail, and we don’t know if it’s safe,” said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, which has a National Park Service permit for Sheridan Circle.
“Jesus Christ, you know, it’s outrageous. It’s something I never could have imagined growing up — that a foreign power would feel such license,” said Hamparian, who filmed the melee in 2017.
Trump never publicly condemned the attack. Turkish officials said Trump apologized to Erdoğan after 15 guards were criminally charged, but the White House denied it.
Sayid Reza Yasa, 62, who lost a tooth and suffered a concussion after being kicked in the head by at least three of Erdoğan’s guards, plans to return with a hard hat and a bullhorn to chant against the “fascist dictator.”
“They would love to attack if they have a chance like last time,” said Yasa, a Kurdish American born in Turkey. “We’ll have to see tomorrow.”
Organizers plan to set up a projection screen and chant against Erdoğan if he arrives at the Turkish ambassador’s residence, as he did in 2017. His precise schedule is under wraps, but activists are aware of planned visits to the Chamber of Commerce, near the White House, and a mosque near the Turkish embassy.
[Related: Liz Cheney urges Pompeo to ‘immediately expel’ Erdogan guards who beat Americans]
At least four law enforcement agencies patrol the circle. Organizers have been in touch with U.S. Park Police and with Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, which is in charge of the street separating the circle from the ambassador’s home. U.S. Secret Service and the State Department’s diplomatic protection officers control the far side of the street.
“I believe that President Trump should not have offered President Erdoğan an invitation,” said Flint Arthur, a protest leader and vice president of the American Rojava Center for Democracy. “I would hope the White House would make sure there would be a peaceful gathering and that there would not be a repeat.”
Police agencies, the State Department, and the White House have offered few public details about plans, or words of deterrence for Erdoğan and his men.
On Monday, Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to deny entry or, if they are already here, expel Erdoğan guards who participated in the 2017 violence. Activists say they intend to be on the lookout for guards who perpetrated the violence and for civilians who assisted them. Though all of Erdoğan’s men were allowed to flee in 2017, two Turkish American collaborators were sentenced to one year in prison.
Lusik “Lucy” Usoyan, a Yezidi Kurd from Armenia who became a U.S. citizen, told the Washington Examiner that she does not plan to return to Sheridan Circle on Wednesday. Usoyan was knocked on the ground and kicked by six men, according to a federal indictment.
“The fact that I’m still alive, I’m not going to risk it again,” Usoyan said.
Usoyan said she’s hopeful there will be peace, but that the mysterious dismissal of criminal charges against 11 of 15 Erdoğan guards may embolden him.
“After you allow someone to behave [in that manner], the second time he comes he has now established his role as a powerful leader, and he can do anything,” she said.
Erdoğan will arrive at the White House around noon Wednesday and participate in an afternoon joint press conference, a rare honor for a visiting head of state.
The 2017 attack happened as Erdoğan arrived at the Turkish ambassador’s residence. Yasa led a chant calling Erdoğan a “baby killer” before Erdoğan appeared to relay a command and watched as about two dozen of his charges shoved past D.C. police.
Activists intend to highlight the House’s recent passage of a bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide and to condemn Erdoğan’s attack on formerly U.S.-backed Kurds in northern Syria and his jailing of domestic opponents and journalists.
Trump said Tuesday during a speech in New York that he was willing to work with any foreign leader, so long as it served American interests.
“Anybody wants to come in. Dictators, it’s OK, come on in, whatever’s good for the United States. We want to help our people,” he said.
