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Protesters against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington on May 16, 2017.(Photo: Shawn Thew, epa)

The contrast between despotism and liberty wason stark display last week in the nation's capital, when bodyguards of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan set upon protesters exercising free-speech rights in front of the Turkish ambassador's residence.

Video capturedimagesof the Turkish strongman emerging from a car to watch his beefy sentinels pummel and kick dissidents until the violence was quelled by baton-wieldingD.C. police. Eleven people were injured, including a police officer.

The May 16 melee, largely overshadowed by last week's bombshell newsinvolving President Trumpand the Russians, was behavior that might have passed for state-sanctioned oppression in Ankara. But this took place along Washington's Embassy Row,and demonstrators acted with the First Amendment's blessing to peaceably assemble.

Imagine the outcry if Israeli protesters gatheringoutside the King David Hotel in Jerusalem during President Trump's visit this week hadbeensuddenly attacked by members of the U.S. Secret Service.Nor was this the first time Erdogan's security team fought with demonstrators in downtown Washington. A clash broke out in front of the Brookings Institutionlast year.

Suchbrutality is sadly what Americans have come to expect from a leader who once held promise as a much needed reformer for a leadingdemocracy in the Islamic world, only to turn increasing autocratic. Last year, Erdogan barely won areferendum, marred by allegations of fraud,that substantially increased the powers of his presidency. After a coup attempt in July, he launched a widespread purge, jailing thousands of opponents, journalists and educators.

OPPOSING VIEW:

Turkish ambassador: Protesters posed a threat

When the United States and other Western nations called for restraint, Erdogan dismissed them. That's why it was so galling to see his imperiousness on display in the U.S. capital. One video of the event last week showsa henchman leaning inside Erdogan's car,as if seeking direction. The man thenturns and signals another, who plunges into the demonstrators with his fists swinging. Some protesters also threw punches.

Two Erdogan guards were detained by policebut later released;all have since left the country. An investigation continues, but diplomatic immunity would make it toughto bring Erdogan's guards to justice.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called the Turkish conduct "outrageous," and his department issued a condemnation, summoning Turkey's ambassador to the U.S., Serdar Kl, for a dressing down. Days later, theTurkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara playing tit for tat similarly called in the U.S. ambassador to complain of how police treated those guards.

But the White House has remainedsilent on the violence that occurred shortly after Trump heaped praised on Erdogan during a meeting between the pair.Increasingly and disturbingly, the presidenthas been drawn to strongmen who trample onhuman rights, among them Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, PhilippinePresident Eduardo Duterte and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Doesn't Trump care about Erdogan's thugs beating up protesters just blocks from the White House? The president has, after all, sworn to protect and defend the Constitution and its First Amendment.

Instead, it's left to others like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,to exorcise the bitter taste this episode has left. "That's not America," McCain said.No, it is not.

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Turkey henchmen kick First Amendment - USA TODAY