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| Erdogan Supporters Sentenced Over Washington Attacks |
| 2018-04-06 |
| [DailyCaller] Two Turkish-American supporters of Turkey's president were sentenced to prison on Thursday for their roles in attacking peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., in 2017. Eyup Yildirim and Sinan Narin were sentenced by a superior court judge to 12 months and one day in jail and three years of supervised release on charges of assault with significant bodily injury over the May 16, 2017, attacks. Both received credit for time served in jail. They were arrested last June and pleaded guilty to charges in December. Yildirim and Narin were caught on video taking part in a brutal melee against a small group of protesters outside of the Turkish ambassador's residence at Washington's Dupont Circle. The onslaught occurred as a group of supporters of Turkey's authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were arguing with about two dozen Kurdish, Armenian and Yazidi protesters stationed across the street from the ambassador's residence. Video footage shows the Erdogan supporters, including Yildirim and Narin, blitzed the protesters, punching and kicking many of them. Video footage shows the Erdogan supporters, including Yildirim and Narin, blitzed the protesters, punching and kicking many of them. Some members of Erdogan's security detail were spotted taking part in the assault. Yildirim, who owns a construction company in New Jersey, was spotting brutally kicking a female protester while she was curled up on the ground. Narin, a Virginia resident, was also seen assaulting the woman, identified as Lucy Usoyan. Yildirim and Narin were two of 19 people charged in the attacks. Two Canadian-Turkish men who showed up to the protests were also charged. Fifteen members of Erdogan's security detail were also charged. The Justice Department quietly dropped charges in 11 of those cases in February. The move was made just before Secretary of State Rex Tillerson traveled to Turkey as part of a visit aimed at smoothing relations between Ankara and Washington, the Wall Street Journal reported. |
| Posted by:KBK |