Tag Archives: Violence

Leftist protesters vow to disrupt G20 summit in Hamburg

An activist carries a poster as he arrives at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof central railway station during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

By Joseph Nasr

HAMBURG (Reuters) – “Welcome to Hell”. That’s the greeting for U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders from anti-capitalist protesters in Hamburg, who have vowed to disrupt the G20 summit in the German port city.

Among the 100,000 protesters expected in the city, some 8,000 are deemed by security forces to be ready to commit violence, posing a challenge for those tasked with securing the July 7-8 summit of leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies.

There has been no significant violence at several smaller demonstrations in the city this week, including a march on Wednesday by more than 7,000 beer-drinking mainly young revelers holding placards denouncing capitalism and G20 leaders.

But a fire overnight at a Porsche car dealer in the north of the city that damaged eight vehicles could be a foretaste of what’s to come. Police said they were investigating whether it was an arson attack.

“There is no concrete evidence to link the incident to the G20 summit,” a police spokesman told Reuters. “But we assume this is the case.”

Locals are unhappy with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to hold the summit in the center of Germany’s second-largest city as they fear property damage by violent protesters. Their daily routines are also being disrupted by security measures.

Up to 20,000 police officers will be on duty to watch over the main demonstration, dubbed “Welcome to Hell” by the alliance of anti-capitalist groups who organized it. Protesters have said they will try to block roads in the city.

Merkel took a big gamble in deciding to host the summit, where leaders will hold talks on difficult issues from trade and climate change to African development, in the city of her birth.

Should the protests go awry, her reputation could be damaged less than three months before an election in which she is seeking a fourth term.

To air the locals’ disenchantment, Hamburg-based soft drinks maker Fritz Kola has launched a poster advertising campaign featuring a portrait of Trump snoozing. A caption reads: “Wake up, man! Fritz Kola. Lots of caffeine”.

Protesters say the G20 has failed to solve many of the issues threatening world peace, including climate change, rising inequality and violent conflicts.

Activists arrive at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof central railway station during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Activists arrive at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof central railway station during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

‘EGOISTIC LEADER’

Tens of thousands will gather at the fish market in the borough of St Pauli – known for its red light district – at 1400 GMT (10 a.m. ET), around the same time as Air Force One is due to land in Hamburg. They will then march north to the heavily secured summit venue.

“It’s ridiculous that police say some of us are violent when starting tomorrow the leaders of the world’s largest weapon exporting and importing nations will be arriving in our city,” said Stefan Hubert, a 32-year-old graphic designer who came to the protest on Wednesday with three friends.

Holding a placard reading ‘Make love great again!’ he added: “This summit is a waste of money that could be better spent on deploying more boats to stop migrants fleeing war and hunger from drowning in the Mediterranean.”

Turkish-German protester Fatima Cicek said she and her two sisters came to the demonstration on Wednesday to make the point that the G20 is undemocratic as it is a forum where a handful of leaders make decisions that could impact the whole world.

But her main issue is with Trump.

“He is the most disruptive and egotistic leader at the summit,” the veiled 38-year-old social worker said.

There is an irony in the protesters’ dislike of Trump. The U.S. president and anti-capitalist activists have something in common: distrust of globalization.

Yet Trump is in Hamburg to push for trade rules that benefit America, including steel makers facing tough competition from China, while the protesters are here to demand more rights for the poor regardless of where they live.

“Trump is here to promote his own interests and those of the richest people in America,” said Cicek. “We are demanding more rights for the millions of people in Africa who have no roof over their heads.”

(Reporting by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Toby Chopra)

New York City police officer killed in `unprovoked attack,’ police say

Black and blue bunting hangs from above the entrance to the New York City Police Department's 46th precinct after a gunman fatally shot a female New York City Police Department officer in an unprovoked attack early on Wednesday in the city's Bronx borough of New York City, U.S., July 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar

By Barbara Goldberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A gunman fatally shot a female New York City police officer in an unprovoked attack early on Wednesday in the city’s Bronx borough, then was himself shot dead by police as he ran from the scene, authorities said.

The officer, Miosotis Familia, 48, a 12-year veteran of the force, was shot as she sat in a mobile command truck with her partner at about 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT), the New York Police Department said.

The suspect fired through the vehicle’s window, hitting Familia in the head, police said.

“It is clear that this was an unprovoked attack on police officers who were assigned to keep the people of this great city safe,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill told a news conference outside Saint Barnabas Hospital, where Familia was later pronounced dead.

“She was on duty serving this city, protecting people, doing what she believed in, and doing the job she loved,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the news conference.

A New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer places a candle outside the 46th police precinct after a gunman fatally shot a female New York City police officer in an unprovoked attack early on Wednesday in the city's Bronx borough of New York City, U.S., July 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar

A New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer places a candle outside the 46th police precinct after a gunman fatally shot a female New York City police officer in an unprovoked attack early on Wednesday in the city’s Bronx borough of New York City, U.S., July 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar

The suspect, Alexander Bonds, 34, of the Bronx borough, was on parole for robbery in Syracuse, New York, according to a police source.

The mobile command unit has been located since March in the area because of a rash of gang-related shootings, O’Neill said.

Police officers lined the street outside the hospital and saluted as an ambulance drove her body to New York’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner, police said.

Officers chased the assailant on foot for a block before he drew a revolver and they shot and killed him, police said.

A bystander was also shot and was in stable condition, police said.

Pat Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, urged the public to assist. “We need your help to watch our backs as we watch yours,” he said at the news conference.

A total of 24 U.S. law enforcement officers have been killed by gunfire so far this year, a 20 percent increase from the same period in 2016.

Familia is the eighth New York City police officer shot and killed in the line of duty over the last five years.

Her shooting was a chilling reminder of the December 2014 ambush of two New York City police officers who were slain as they sat in a patrol car in Brooklyn by a man who traveled to the city from Baltimore after pledging to kill officers.

The deaths of the two officers stoked tensions between City Hall, the police department and reform-minded protesters who had voted de Blasio into office, turning out in large numbers.

In 2014, 126 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in the United States.

(Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Larry King and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Florida ‘Stand Your Ground’ law revisions unconstitutional, judge rules

By Letitia Stein

TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) – A Florida state court judge ruled on Monday that recent changes to the state’s “stand your ground” law are unconstitutional, finding that legislators overstepped when making it easier for defendants to argue self-defense to obtain immunity for violent acts.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Milton Hirsch said courts, not lawmakers, should set the process by which defendants can claim they were protecting themselves with an act of violence, according to the ruling posted online by the Miami Herald.

The revision shifted the burden of proof during pretrial hearings to prosecutors, rather than defendants, to show whether force was used lawfully. Supporters saw the changes backed by the National Rifle Association, the powerful U.S. gun lobby, as bolstering civilians’ rights to protect themselves.

Advocates predicted the ruling would be reversed on appeal.

“It is the role of the legislature to write the laws that govern how Floridians may exercise their statutory and constitutional rights,” Richard Corcoran, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said in a statement. “The Florida House will continue to stand with ordinary citizens who exercise their right to self-defense.”

Florida’s “stand your ground” law, passed in 2005, received wide scrutiny and inspired similar laws in other states. It removed the legal responsibility to retreat from a dangerous situation and allowed the use of deadly force when a person felt greatly threatened.

This spring’s changes were adopted over outcry that gun owners could be emboldened to shoot first.

Critics cited the 2012 death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in the Orlando area, which spurred national protests and the Black Lives Matter movement. The neighborhood watchman who killed him, George Zimmerman, was acquitted of murder after the law was included in jury instructions.

Monday’s ruling in Miami circuit court is not binding on other state trial courts, the Miami Herald reported.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by David Gregorio)

Venezuela: death of a protester

A member of the riot security forces points a gun through the fence of an air force base at David Jose Vallenilla, who was fatally injured during clashes at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File photo

CARACAS (Reuters) – Over months of protests Carlos Garcia Rawlins has been on Venezuela’s streets daily, documenting increasingly violent clashes with security forces, experience that helped put him within eyeshot of a soldier who fatally wounded a young activist at close range.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have taken to the streets across the country since April to demand elections, solutions to hunger and shortages, and an end to President Nicolas Maduro’s plan to overhaul the constitution.

On Thursday, a thousands-strong march that was aiming to reach the chief prosecutor’s office in Caracas was broken up by security forces with tear gas and pellets. Protesters burned a truck, before dispersing to a wide junction on an urban freeway that has been the site of clashes on several occasions recently.

The freeway runs past La Carlota air base, and soldiers and National Guards fired gas from inside the perimeter of the base to try to clear the highway. About a hundred protesters threw rocks back and began to tear a part of the fence.

Garcia, who has photographed this spot many times, used a concrete barrier in the road for protection and shot the scene with a long lens.

“There are several points, on the bridge of the junction, or below, but always trying to keep ourselves covered by the crash barrier of the freeway,” said Garcia, 38.

“Yesterday, the protesters broke open the fence.”

In a matter of seconds, a youth standing in the gap in the fence jumped down as a group of military men carrying long firearms approached from inside the base.

David Jose Vallenilla, 22, was crouched down on the highway by the fence. At this moment he stood up, protected only by a small rucksack strapped to his chest, and just a few feet from the soldier, who began shooting.

Garcia captured the moment in a series of photos, as Vallenilla falls to the ground, then gets to his feet to escape, as another activist wrapped in the Venezuelan flag and carrying a flimsy wooden shield tries to give him cover and also comes under fire.

Garcia rushed in as protesters gathered round Vallenilla to drag him away, and captured another stark image, of the young man’s face as paramedics drove him away on a motorbike.

“By then he looked very bad, badly injured,” he said.

Vallenilla died in hospital a few minutes later. At least 75 people have been killed since the protests began in April. The protest outside the air base carried on after shooting.

It was the second time in a week that media caught on camera military elements firing weapons at protesters resulting in deaths. In response the government has swiftly detained several members of the security forces accused of the shootings.

A former small businessman who owned phone shops, Garcia has been covering Venezuela for Reuters for more than a decade. His daughter was born two weeks before the latest protests exploded in April. He says the mood is different than a previous round of demonstrations three years ago.

“This time people have lost their fear of authority, they are furious,” Garcia said. “Before, many protesters would run as a soon as they smelt tear gas, now they don’t run.” He said that over the past month the protests against Maduro have become more intense and less organized, meaning photographers must move with the ebb and flow of the demonstrators. His team tries to place itself in different spots, somewhere high up, somewhere at mid distance and somewhere close.

“The opposition protests have been getting more chaotic as the days pass, more disorganized, now it’s not two groups fighting each other,” said Garcia, describing the challenge of following the protests as they fracture into small groups.

“Every day is different.”

Click here to see a related photo essay: http://reut.rs/2t39gdD

(Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; editing by Diane Craft)

U.S. government narrows focus of counter-extremism program

FILE PHOTO - U.S. Department of Homeland Security emblem is pictured at the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) located just outside Washington in Arlington, Virginia September 24, 2010. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

By Julia Harte and Dustin Volz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday announced changes to a $10 million government grant program, narrowing its focus around efforts to combat Islamist extremism.

In an update to awards announced in January by former President Barack Obama’s administration, the department released a new list of grant recipients and amounts, shifting money to law enforcement offices and away from groups that combat U.S.-based extremism.

Reuters reported in February that President Donald Trump’s administration wanted to revamp the program to focus solely on Islamist extremism.

A DHS spokeswoman said the department changed the grant criteria after the release of the initial list to consider whether applicants would partner with law enforcement, had experience implementing counter-extremism prevention programs, and would be able to continue after the awards were spent.

“Top-scoring applications that were consistent with these priorities remained as awardees, while others did not,” said DHS spokeswoman Lucy Martinez.

Three local law enforcement offices in California, Washington state and Minnesota were among the new awardees, receiving grants totaling $1.2 million.

A spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in California said it would use the money to address extremism “on all fronts,” not just Islamist violence. Sergeant Ray Kelly cited violent clashes between right-wing and left-wing demonstrators that recently erupted in the city of Berkeley as an example of local extremism in the county.

Kelly said the office would use the grant money to train officers to better recognize and address signs of alienation that make young people vulnerable to extremism, with the help of behavioral health counselors who are already on staff.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council, a nonprofit group that works to improve public understanding and policies that affect American Muslims, said the Trump administration revoked its nearly $400,000 grant because the group “did not meet the criteria of working with law enforcement to counter violent extremism.”

The revised list also omitted several original awardees focused on U.S.-based extremism, such as Life After Hate, which tries to steer young people away from far-right extremism.

Christian Picciolini, a co-founder of Life After Hate, told Reuters his group was planning to use its $400,000 grant to scale up its counselor network of former extremists to “meet the highly increased requests for our services since Election Day.”

“The current administration’s lack of focus on domestic white extremist terrorism, let alone its denial to even acknowledge it exists, is highly troubling,” Picciolini wrote in an email.

(Reporting by Julia Harte and Dustin Volz; Editing by Bill Rigby and Bill Trott)

FBI says probing Michigan airport stabbing as ‘act of terrorism’

Police investigators talk outside the home of Amor Ftouhi, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 21, 2017. Ftouhi has been identified as a suspect by the FBI in the stabbing of a police officer inside the main terminal of a small airport in Flint, Michigan. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

By Ben Klayman and Christinne Muschi

DETROIT/MONTREAL (Reuters) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday it was investigating as an act of terrorism the stabbing of a police officer inside the main terminal of a small airport in Flint, Michigan.

“I will tell you that we are investigating this incident today that happened at about 9:45 this morning as an act of terrorism,” David Gelios, special agent in charge of the Detroit division of the FBI, told reporters outside Bishop International Airport.

The U.S. Department of Justice identified the suspect as Amor M. Ftouhi, 49, of Quebec, Canada. Ftouhi legally entered the United States from Lake Champlain, New York, on June 16 before making his way to Flint, Gelios said.

According to a criminal complaint, Ftouhi yelled in Arabic “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) before stabbing Lieutenant Jeff Neville of the airport’s Department of Public Safety.

Neville was in satisfactory condition after undergoing surgery and expected to fully recover, police said.

“When the subject went up to the officer and stabbed him, he continued to exclaim ‘Allah’ and made a statement, something to the effect of ‘You have killed people in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and we are all going to die,” Gelios said.

Ftouhi has been charged with violence at an international airport, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Gelios said other charges could be lodged against Ftouhi.

U.S. officials, who have questioned Ftouhi, currently believe he acted alone and was not part of a larger plot, Gelios said.

“Suffice it to say, he has a hatred for the United States,” Gelios said of Ftouhi.

Gelios described the weapon as a 12-inch knife with an 8-inch serrated blade. Ftouhi was a “lone wolf attacker,” he said.

It took four people to subdue Ftouhi, including the officer he stabbed and a nearby maintenance worker, said Chris Miller, the airport’s director of public safety. Miller and another officer also assisted.

According to the criminal complaint, after he was subdued Ftouhi asked why he had not been killed.

The airport was evacuated and there were no other injuries. It reopened on Wednesday evening.

A small regional airport, it has, on average, 16 commercial flights arriving or departing each day, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service.

Officials in the United States and Canada condemned the attack and said that agencies in both countries would work together to investigate the incident.

“Any attack on someone who serves and protects our citizens will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement, adding that he had spoken with FBI officials about the attack.

Canada’s Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale called the attack “heinous and cowardly.”

“We will do everything we possibly can to assist in this matter,” Goodale told reporters.

Police in Montreal went to an apartment building in the city’s Saint Michel area on Wednesday in connection with the stabbing, according to Radio-Canada, the French-language arm of Canada’s public broadcaster.

Radio-Canada reported that police questioned three people but did not search the apartment.

Police were guarding the entrance and rear doorway of the four-story building in Saint Michel, a lower income neighborhood with a large immigrant population, according to a Reuters eyewitness. A small crowd had gathered across the street.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police did not immediately return Reuters requests for comment.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York, Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago, Erich Beech in Washington and Anna Mehler Paperny and Amran Abocar in Toronto; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Toni Reinhold)

Another youth killed as Venezuela protesters flex muscle in street clashes

A member of the riot security forces (R) points what appears to be a pistol towards a crowd of demonstrators during a rally against Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro’s government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Veron

By Frank Jack Daniel

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition activists battled security forces in Caracas on Monday at one of the largest demonstrations in recent weeks, aiming to dispel doubts about the movement’s stamina after over two months of almost daily street clashes.

A teenager died of a gunshot wound in the latest clashes and several others were injured, bringing the death toll since April to at least 73.

About 10,000 protesters filled the streets and arching flyovers of the city’s wealthy east. Faced with security forces’ water cannons and volleys of teargas, a deep line of protesters threw rocks, petrol bombs and powerful fireworks from behind crude wooden shields.

“Day 80 of the resistance, and the people are not tired. Today, it is clear to anybody who was worried that the street had died down that it is not the case,” Freddy Guevara, a lawmaker from the opposition Popular Will party, said at the protest.

A Reuters photo showed a member of the National Guard pointing what appeared to be a pistol toward a crowd of protesters. In a separate video showing what looked like the same scene, an official appears to be firing a pistol.

In an apparent reference to the incident, Interior Minister Nestor Reverol described an “improper and disproportionate use of force,” saying on Twitter that several people had been injured and one killed. He said officers involved were being investigated, but also condemned the violence of the protesters.

The dead protester was named as Fabian Urbina, 17, shot in the chest, the local mayor said, adding at least 27 others were injured.

The National Guard is a wing of the military tasked with public order. The head of the guard on Sunday said his men would never use “weapons of war” against protesters.

“You have not seen anything, squalid ones,” said Diosdado Cabello, a top leader of the Socialist Party, speaking at a separate pro-government protest earlier in the day, and using a popular epithet for the government’s opponents. “What you have seen is just a little scratch.”

The opposition accuses President Nicolas Maduro of dragging the oil-exporting country toward dictatorship by delaying elections, jailing opposition activists and pressing to overhaul the constitution.

Maduro contends the protests are part of a foreign plot to topple his government, and points to arson attacks on public buildings as evidence of what he calls terrorism.

Anti-government activists’ anger has been fanned by shortages of food and medicines which have coincided with a spike in infant malnutrition and mortality.

“We don’t have food, we don’t have healthcare, we don’t have a future,” said a protester, who declined to give his name, speaking through a gas mask. “How is it possible that at 19 years old, I have to be here fighting?”

A young musician nearby played the national anthem on a clarinet, while tear gas grenades and rocks whistled past her. Green flashes and explosions echoed from apartment blocks, and two protesters flung themselves at armored vehicles, hitting the windows with clubs.

“We are here to show that we are not terrorists, we are only here to fight for our rights,” said the musician, who gave her name as Hazel.

The protests began in April when the Supreme Court tried to usurp the powers of the opposition-controlled Congress.

Some marches have been smaller in recent weeks as violence has flared. But Monday’s effort, matched by protests in several other parts of the country, demonstrated the movement still has momentum.

The opposition seeks to halt Maduro’s plan to hold July 30 elections for a special assembly to rewrite the constitution, a move the opposition says is aimed at undermining democracy.

“We want to put pressure on the government, it cannot impose a new constitution,” said telecoms engineer Luis Serrano, 22, resting at a medical station near the protest.

(Editing by G Crosse)

Syrian army declares 48-hour ceasefire in Deraa

People ride a motorbike past a damaged building in a rebel-held part of the southern city of Deraa, Syria, June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Syrian army said it would suspend combat operations in the southern city of Deraa for 48 hours from Saturday, according to a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

A war monitor said the level of violence had fallen three hours after the ceasefire was due to take effect, but rebels said the city was still being bombarded.

The army general command said the ceasefire was due to take effect at 12 noon (0900 GMT) on Saturday and was being done to support “reconciliation efforts”.

The Syrian army and Iran-backed militia forces have escalated attacks against a rebel-held part of Deraa city in recent weeks, in a possible prelude to a large-scale campaign to wrest full control of the city.

But a rebel commander in Deraa told Reuters hostilities had not stopped.

“We have not heard of any such talk and the regime is still attacking us with the same intensity,” the commander said at 3:30 PM (1230 GMT).

The United States and Russia have been holding talks on creating a “de-escalation zone” in southwestern Syria which would include Deraa province, on the border with Jordan, and Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Deraa city lies within an existing plan brokered by Iran, Russia and Turkey in the Kazakh capital, Astana, in May to create four de-escalation zones in Syria. Since May, violence levels have vastly reduced in some of those proposed de-escalation areas, but fighting has continued on major frontline areas including in Deraa city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said there had been a decline in the pace of fighting and shelling in the city for the three hours since the ceasefire came into force. But the Britain-based monitor said some shells and air strikes had continued to hit parts of the city.

“There are breaches and we are distrustful of the regime’s intentions in abiding by the ceasefire,” Major Issam al Rayes, spokesman for the Southern Front grouping of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, told Reuters.

“The regimes forces have stopped their military operations after big losses in equipment and men since the start of their campaign over a month ago … after the failure of repeated attempts to advance,” Rayess said.

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington in Beirut and Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Turkish leader’s security officers charged with assault in Washington

The Turkish flag flies over the the Turkish Ambassador's residence in Washington, U.S., June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

By Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors have charged a dozen Turkish security and police officers with assault after an attack on protesters in Washington during Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the U.S. capital last month, officials said on Thursday.

The May 16 skirmish, caught on video, left nine protesters injured outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence and further strained ties at a time when the NATO allies are in sharp disagreement over policy in Syria.

The charges against some members of Erdogan’s security detail send a clear message that the United States “does not tolerate individuals who use intimidation and violence to stifle freedom of speech and legitimate political expression,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.

Turkey condemned the charges and said the Turkish citizens, who left the country with Erdogan, should not be held responsible for the incident.

“This decision taken by U.S. authorities is wrong, biased and lacks legal basis,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The brawl in front of the Turkish ambassador’s residence was caused by the failure of local security authorities to take necessary measures.”

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert would not say on Thursday whether an extradition request would be made.

The security officers are no longer protected by the immunity extended to them during Erdogan’s recent visit, the State Department said.

“We will weigh additional actions,” Nauert told reporters.

Washington officials announcing the charges, which were filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, described the treatment of the protesters as an attack on U.S. values. Some of the protesters were associated with the Armenian National Committee of America and accuse Erdogan of running a politically repressive government.

A video posted online showed men in dark suits chasing protesters and punching and kicking them as Washington police struggled to intervene.

“If they attempt to enter the United States, they will be arrested,” Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham said of the security officers charged in the case.

Newsham said there was no probable cause to arrest Erdogan, who watched the confrontation unfold from a nearby car.

Eighteen people have now been charged in the incident, including two Canadians and four Americans, according to prosecutors.

Two men were arrested on Wednesday. Sinan Narin of Virginia faces a charge of felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor assault, and Eyup Yildirim of New Jersey faces two charges of felony assault and a misdemeanor assault charge.

(Reporting by Tom Ramstack; Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham in Washington, Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara and David Dolan in Istanbul; Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Andrew Hay and Peter Cooney)

Venezuela opposition condemns ‘vandalism’ in apartment block raids

People walk past the broken fencing of a building after opposition supporters and security forces clashed in and outside the building on Tuesday according to residents, in Caracas, Venezuela June 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

By Diego Oré

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition lawmakers on Wednesday said security forces used excessive violence during a raid to capture protesters in a sprawling middle-class apartment complex carried out after officers came under fire.

Videos taken during the raid show an armored truck smashing through the gates of the Los Verdes complex, in an operation that Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said resulted in the capture of 23 people who had been involved in attacks on security forces.

“These subjects were involved in violent acts in which several officials were injured by gun fire,” Reverol said, describing clashes at a barricade close to the apartments as the trigger for the raid.

Los Verdes is located in a Caracas neighborhood that has been the site of almost nightly clashes over two months since protests broke out against government restrictions on the opposition and chronic shortages of basic consumer goods.

With at least 68 killed since April, the increasing intensity of protests and the government response has led some to warn that Venezuela risks descending into deeper political violence.

The government calls violent protesters “terrorists” who want to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, and says that acts including attacks on police, the burning of vehicles and a looting and arson attack on a court building this week delegitimize their cause.

Dozens of car windows were smashed and at least 12 elevators broken during the operation on Los Verdes, said a Reuters witness at the site on Wednesday. One resident said an agent shot her dog in the eye.

“They are mafia criminals armed by the government,” said opposition lawmaker Tomas Guanipa, describing as “vandalism” the government action at the complex, which houses some 4,500 people.

Small protests and clashes rumbled on in several parts of Caracas and other cities on Wednesday, with security forces firing tear gas to clear a roadblock in a wealthy part of the capital and protesters burning a car.

Reverol said two people were killed in an accident when one motorcycle hit another after turning back from an opposition barricade on Wednesday.

The opposition street movement has been fanned by Maduro’s plan for July 30 elections for a special assembly to rewrite the constitution, which critics say are stacked in the government’s favor and will result in the opposition-controlled congress being dissolved.

The opposition is determined to stop the vote, calling instead for a presidential election. In a sign of how heated rhetoric has become, opposition lawmakers warn the situation could descend into armed conflict if protesters are not heard.

“If this government insists on going ahead, the world needs to know, sadly, what is coming here is a major war for the Venezuelans,” said lawmaker Juan Requesens at a sit-in protest blocking a Caracas highway on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Diego Ore; Editing by Leslie Adler)