Russia Detains over 1,000 Anti-Putin Protesters, Ignoring U.S. Calls to Release

Russian police waded into the crowd with batons and pepper spray, detaining more than a thousand protesters by the end of the day. Some estimates say the total is closer to two thousand.

.. Navalny himself never made it to the protest, as he was arrested while leaving his flat. He posted a photo of the swarm of officers descending upon him on Twitter with the sarcastically jaunty message, “Happy Russia Day!” Russia Day, a public holiday, fell on Monday.

 .. One of the charges leveled against Navalny is that he broke an agreement with Moscow police by relocating his rally at the last minute. Police said they would allow the demonstration to proceed at the new location, provided the participants did not shout slogans or wave placards, both of which they proceeded to do with gusto. Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s FSB security service, described the change of venue as a “provocation.”
.. “As for those who indulged in provocative actions, breaking the law, in this case the authorities took action against them in full compliance with our legislation,” Peskov insisted.
.. Navalny further argued that moving the location of the Moscow demonstration was not a stunt but a necessity because city authorities pressured contractors into withholding the sound and stage equipment needed. He also argued that the relocated gathering was legal under Russian constitutional guarantees of citizens’ rights to assembly.

x A Texas Republican called ICE on protesters. Then lawmakers started to scuffle.

Video of the scuffle shows lawmakers pushing one another, yelling and gesticulating. Later, Democrats said, Rinaldi repeatedly got in their faces and cursed at them.

“There was a threat made from Representative Rinaldi to put a bullet in one of my colleagues’ heads,” state Rep. Justin Rodriguez said during the news conference. “That kind of threatening language, he needs to be called out and held accountable for.”

But Rinaldi said the threat went the other way — that state Rep. Poncho Nevárez (D) “threatened my life on the House floor.”

“I called ICE on several illegal immigrants who held signs in the gallery that said, ‘I am an illegal immigrant and here to stay,’ ” he said in a statement after the incident. Rinaldi went on to detail purported threats against him from Democratic lawmakers, saying he was assaulted and had sought the protection of law enforcement officials.

Did the Turkish President’s Security Detail Attack Protesters in Washington? What the Video Shows

The New York Times reviewed videos and photos to track the actions of 24 men, including armed members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security detail, who attacked protesters in Washington last week. Many of the protesters were American citizens.

The men kicked people lying on the ground and put a woman in a chokehold just a mile from the White House. They outnumbered the protesters nearly two to one.

The State Department has condemned the episode, and some American lawmakers have called for the men to be prosecuted. But none have been charged with a crime. Here’s what video of the main actors shows about the identities of the men and the roles they played in the clash.

Turkey Summons U.S. Ambassador Over Security During Erdogan Visit

Competing accounts from U.S. and Turkish officials about violent confrontation

 Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest what it called “aggressive and unprofessional actions” by U.S. security toward Turkish bodyguards during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington last week.
.. Local police, U.S. lawmakers and demonstrators said members of Mr. Erdogan’s security detail took part in an unprovoked attack on protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington.The U.S. State Department said it summoned the Turkish ambassador last week to express its concern over the incident, which D.C. police, the Secret Service and the State Department are investigating.

The summoning of U.S. Ambassador John Bass on Monday added to Turkey’s challenges of the prevailing narrative in Washington by casting blame on U.S. security personnel for unprofessionalism outside the Turkish Embassy, as well as unspecified “lapses of security” throughout Mr. Erdogan’s visit.

..The ministry also condemned “the inability of U.S. authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official program.” A spokesman for the ministry declined to further specify Turkey’s complaints, pending the investigation it requested.

.. A narrative of the incident published by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said the fight started after protesters threw water bottles at Turkish citizens.
.. The Turkish government cast the anti-Erdogan demonstrators as sympathizers with the PKK, the Kurdish separatist group classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Turkey.
.. “There is a big difference between freedom of expression and expression of solidarity with terrorism and terrorists,” Amb. Serdar Kilic said at a speech at the Trump Hotel to people gathered for a conference on U.S.-Turkey business relations. “We do not take it as freedom of expression, it’s expression of solidarity with terrorism.”
.. said Americans were “concerned and disturbed” by the violence.
..“It is important to note that, in the United States, such protests are legal, protected and customary,” Mr. Shannon told the same business conference, where he sat next to the Turkish ambassador during the lunch. “In this regard, we found the attack to be deplorable and lacking in the respect for our laws that we expect from visitors.”