Charges dropped over bodyguards in brawl

WASHINGTON » U.S. prosecutors said Thursday they have dismissed all criminal charges against seven of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bodyguards after a brawl in Washington last year in which protesters were beaten.

The charges were dropped last month just a day before a meeting between Erdogan and now-outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The State Department said the timing was coincidental.

Assault charges are pending against four others in Erdogan’s security detail as well as two Canadian citizens accused in the May 2017 altercation outside the Turkish ambassador’s Washington home during a visit by Erdogan. The incident sparked outrage in Washington and elsewhere and was condemned by the State Department and local officials.