A still shot of footage of the violence that erupted outside the Turkish embassy last night.

Update: The State Department has identified those involved as Turkish security personnel, and D.C. police have pledged to hold all assailants accountable. More here.

Original:

Nine people were injured in violence outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence on Tuesday night, one person seriously, amid President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington.

About two dozen people were demonstrating for Kurdish rights around Sheridan Circle, while a group of men in suits stood near the Turkish ambassador’s residence. Verbal confrontations between the two groups turned to violent skirmishes.

In a video of the clashes, men in dark suits could be seen encircling a protester and punching him. In another, they kick a different protester lying on the ground with a bullhorn. A third shows protesters spattered with blood. A large number of Metropolitan Police Department officers worked to quell the melee.

Two people were arrested in the fighting, one of whom was charged with assault on a police officer.

“What we saw yesterday – a violent attack on a peaceful demonstration – is an affront to D.C. values and our rights as Americans,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement. “I strongly condemn these actions and have been briefed by Chief Newsham on our response. The Metropolitan Police Department will continue investigating the incident and will work with federal partners to ensure justice is served.”

In a statement today, MPD officials said the events “stand in contrast to the first amendment rights and principles we work tirelessly to protect each and every day.” In addition to the two arrests, the department pledged to pursue charges against the other people involved.

A state-owned Turkish news agency said that the president’s security team was involved in the fighting outside the embassy, the New York Times reports. U.S. officials also confirmed to NBC News that Erdogan’s bodyguards beat protesters.

“They think they can engage in the same sort of suppression of protest and free speech that they engage in in Turkey,” protester Flint Arthur told CNN. “They stopped us for a few minutes … but we still stayed and continued to protest Erdogan’s tyrannical regime.”

Erdogan visited the White House earlier in the day, where President Donald Trump gave him a warm welcome. “We’ve had a great relationship and we will make it even better,” Trump said, despite Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian leadership and Turkey’s stalwart opposition to the United States’ decision to arm Syrian Kurds. “We look forward to having very strong and solid discussions.”

It isn’t the first time the Turkish president’s visit to Washington turned violent. Security for Erdogan clashed with protesters, journalists, D.C. Police, and staff at the Brookings Institution last March during a speech he was giving at the think tank.

This post has been updated with comment from Mayor Muriel Bowser, additional information from NBC News, and a statement by the D.C. police department.

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