Dead man’s parents reject surprise meeting with suspect

WASHINGTON — The grieving parents of a young British man who was killed in a car crash involving an American diplomat’s wife felt ambushed when President Donald Trump tried to get them to meet with the woman in front of the press, attorneys for the couple said Wednesday.

Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn traveled to Washington on Tuesday seeking to have the woman’s diplomatic immunity lifted. Instead, Trump and national security adviser Robert O’brien surprised the family by inviting Anne Sacoolas to the White House and suggesting Dunn’s parents meet with her in front of the White House press corps.

Attorney Mark Stephens said the couple had no idea Sacoolas would be in the building when they were there Tuesday and were stunned by the proposition. He said the couple wants to meet with Sacoolas at some point, but not in a surprise meeting staged for reporters.

“If there’s going to be a meeting like that, it should not involve a surprise, a jack-in-the-box, pop-outof-a-circus-tent meeting seven weeks after the loss,” said Radd Seiger, a retired lawyer who is a neighbor of the family and accompanied them.

Trump said Wednesday that he thought the family had wanted to meet with Sacoolas, but that “they weren’t ready for it” Tuesday.

“It was very sad, to be honest,” he said of their conversation. “They lost their son.”

Trump said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had asked him to set up the meeting. He said he had spoken with Sacoolas and that she had been waiting in a room just off the Oval Office when he made the offer to Dunn’s family.

Harry Dunn, 19, was killed in August when his motorcycle collided with a car driven by Sacoolas outside a British air force base in southern England used by the U.S. military.

Seiger gave Trump credit for demonstrating what he believed was genuine sympathy for the family’s circumstances. He held Charles’ hand at one point and agreed to try to find a way to help her.

“He was absolutely charming,” Seiger said of Trump.