Spokesman for grieving U.K. parents: White House ‘a bunch of henchmen’ for Trump

Los Angeles Times
Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 6:22 p.m. | Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 6:22 p.m.

Charlotte Charles, mother of Harry Dunn, who died when his motorbike was involved in an August 2019 accident in Britain with Anne Sacoolas, wife of an American diplomat, speaks at a news conference joined by family members Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, in New York. The family is seeking answers after Sacoolas returned to the United States after being granted diplomatic immunity following the crash.

WASHINGTON — The grieving parents of a British teenager who was killed in a car crash involving a U.S. diplomat’s wife said President Donald Trump “doesn’t understand” how much the accident has “broken” their family.

Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn appeared on CNN for an interview Thursday morning in which they described an unexpected turn of event when, during a visit to the White House on Tuesday, the president surprised them by saying the woman involved in the crash, Anne Sacoolas, was willing to meet with them in front of the White House press corps.

Trump had hoped to surprise the parents of dead British teen Harry Dunn with a meeting with the woman who killed him—all in front of the media https://t.co/1zJevtvn3t

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) October 16, 2019

The Dunn family has insisted that they would only meet with Sacoolas in the U.K. with therapists and mediators present as they push for her to return to Britain and face the legal system.

A spokesman for the family during the interview said that during the White House visit, national security advisor Robert C. O’Brien “snarled” at him and said Sacoolas would “never” return to Britain.

“I used to look up to that institution. But it’s a bunch of henchmen trying to make him look good,” the spokesman, Radd Seiger, said.

Harry Dunn, 19, was killed in August when his motorcycle collided with a car allegedly driven by Sacoolas in southern England.

Harry Dunn's parents say the "bombshell was dropped" that the woman involved in their son's death was in the room next door to meet them as they met with President Trump.

They've refused to meet Anne Sacoolas unless it's on UK soil.

More here: https://t.co/QdL6dS1IH8 pic.twitter.com/DB1UbhgmbY

— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 16, 2019

Trump said at news conference on Wednesday that Sacoolas was accidentally driving on the wrong side of the road — something Trump said “happens in Europe” because drivers in England drive on the left side of the road instead of the right.

Pres. Trump on Tuesday meeting with Harry Dunn's family: "It was very sad, to be honest. They lost their son. I believe it was going down the wrong way because that happens in Europe. You go to Europe and the roads are opposite." https://t.co/PEqe7xDPl7 pic.twitter.com/vpnCVkfyMk

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 16, 2019