Incidents of objects being thrown at politicians

In various countries, objects have been thrown at politicians for reasons varying from comedic to harmful.

Australia

• On March 16, 2019, Senator Fraser Anning had an egg cracked on the back of his head by a teenager due to him blaming Muslim immigrants for the Christchurch mosque shootings.[1]
• On May 6, 2019, a woman attempted to egg Prime Minister Scott Morrison while he was campaigning for the 2019 election, but it bounced off his head.

France

• On February 1, 2012, François Hollande was flour bombed while campaigning for the presidential election in protest of the Socialist Party.[2]
• On June 6, 2016, Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron was egged by General Confederation of Labour activists protesting labor reforms.[3]
• On December 22, 2016, former Prime Minister Manuel Valls was flour bombed after announcing that he was running in the presidential election in protest of his multiple uses of Article 49.[4]
• On April 6, 2017, former Prime Minister François Fillon was flour bombed at a campaign rally in protest of his corruption.[5]

Greece

• Since the 1950s protesters have thrown yogurt, referred to as "yaourtoma", at politicians and in 1958 doing so was criminalized until 1983. Alekos Alavanos, Liana Kanelli, and Haris Kastanidis have had yogurt thrown at them.[6]

Italy

• In 63, Vespasian, the Roman Governor of Africa, had turnips thrown at him.[7]
• In 2009, a souvenir cathedral was thrown at Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi causing damage to his nose.[8]

United Kingdom

1970s

• On June 1, 1970, Prime Minister Harold Wilson was egged by a member of the Young Conservatives while campaigning for the 1970 general election.[9]

2000s

• On May 16, 2001, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was egged.[8]
• In 2004, Prime Minister Tony Blair had purple-coloured powder thrown at him while debating in the House of Commons.[8]
• In 2009, First Secretary of State Peter Mandelson had green custard thrown at him by Leila Deen, a member of Plane Stupid.[8]

2010s

See also: Milkshaking

• In 2012 and 2013, Labour Party leader Ed Miliband had eggs thrown at him.[7]
• In March 2019, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn had an egg thrown at him.[7]
• During the 2019 European Parliament election multiple politicians from the UK Independence Party and the Brexit Party, including Carl Benjamin, Nigel Farage, and Tommy Robinson, had milkshakes thrown at them.[7]

United States

1910s

• On August 14, 1908, Eugene W. Chafin was giving a speech in Springfield, Illinois, when a lynch mob started a riot and while he was taking his handkerchief out from his pocket a member of the mob believed that he was pulling a gun out and threw a brick at him.[10]
• A cabbage was thrown at William Howard Taft while campaigning by a heckler. Taft responded: "I see that one of my opponents has lost its head."[11]

1950s

• In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon conducted a goodwill tour throughout multiple South American countries. Protesters in Lima, Peru threw eggs at his motorcade, and on May 13, 1958, his motorcade was attacked by protesters in Caracas, Venezuela in response to the United States's support for the recently deposed dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

1960s

• On October 28, 1960, Vice President Richard Nixon was egged in Muskegon and Jackson, Michigan, and had tomatoes thrown at him in Grand Rapids while campaigning in the 1960 presidential election.[12]

1970s

• On November 8, 1979, Senator Ted Kennedy was traveling to a senior citizen's center in Chicago during his campaign for the 1980 Democratic Party presidential primaries and while doing so was being picketed by anti-abortion activists. Katie Moy, a member of the Communist Workers' Party, threw an egg at Kennedy in protest of the Greensboro massacre, but it only hit his shoulder before breaking on the ground.[13][14]

1990s

• In 1998, members of the Biotic Baking Brigade threw pies at Willie Brown during a speech in protest of his policies on homelessness.[15]

2000s

• In 2000, a vegetarian activist threw a pie at Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman at the National Nutrition Summit in protest of his promotion of meat products.[15]
• In 2000, Illinois Governor George Ryan was pied by a student from the Southern Illinois University Carbondale in protest of his education policies.[15]
• In 2001, when exiting an antique store in Warsaw, Poland, former President Bill Clinton had an egg thrown at him by a protester.[15]
• In 2003, former presidential candidate Ralph Nader was giving his endorsement to the Green Party's gubernatorial candidate, Peter Camejo, for the gubernatorial recall election in San Francisco and during his speech he was pied in the face by an unknown assailant.[15]
• In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger was egged while campaigning for governor of California.[15]
• On October 21, 2004, Ann Coulter was pied by Phillip Edgar Smith and William Zachary Wolff in the name of Al Pieda while giving a speech at the University of Arizona.[15][16]
• On March 30, 2005, Bill Kristol was pied by a student while giving a foreign policy speech at Earlham College. The student stated that they were "making a statement about what he called a mock dialog".[15][17]
• On April 1, 2005, Pat Buchanan had salad dressing thrown onto him while speaking at Western Michigan University.[15]
• On May 10, 2005, Vladimir Arutyunian threw a hand grenade at Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and President George W. Bush at Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, but the grenade did not detonate.
• On July 4, 2008, Vermont Governor Jim Douglas was pied in the face by a man dressed as Santa Claus in protest of his energy policies.[15]

• On December 14, 2008, journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi attempted to throw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a press conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Iraq, but Bush ducked below both.[15]
• In 2009, multiple eggs were thrown at Senator Norm Coleman by a man at his door, but all of them missed.[15]
• In 2009, Jeremy Paul Olsen attempted to hit Governor Sarah Palin with two tomatoes from a second-floor balcony, but both missed.[15]

2010s

Vermin Supreme glitter bombs Randall Terry at Saint Anselm College.

• In 2010, a paperback book was thrown at President Barack Obama by the book's author hoping that the president would read it.[8][18]
• On August 16, 2010, Senator Carl Levin, a Jewish member of Congress, was pied in the face by Ahlam Mohsem to "bring to light Sen[ator] Levin's war crimes" as a "Zionist".[19]
• On May 17, 2011, Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista Gingrich were glitter bombed by Nick Espinosa who shouted "Stop the hate!" and "Feel the rainbow, Newt!"[20]
• On June 16, 2011, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty was glitter bombed by members of Code Pink.[21]
• On June 18, 2011, Representative Michele Bachmann was glitter bombed by Rachel E. B. Lang with the support of GetEQUAL and COLAGE due to Bachmann's support for You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International.[22]
• On December 19, 2011, Randall Terry was glitter bombed by Vermin Supreme at the lesser-known candidates forum at Saint Anselm College.[23]
• In 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade had tomatoes and shoes thrown at it in Alexandria, Egypt and there were shouts of "Monica, Monica" and "leave, Clinton".[24][25]
• Former Senator Rick Santorum was glitter bombed by protesters five separate times in 2012.[26][27][28][29]
• On January 28, 2012, Senator Joe Lieberman was glitter bombed by members of Occupy D.C..[30]
• On February 6, 2012, Representative Ron Paul was glitter bombed by a protester who shouted "Housing and health care are human rights, not privileges!" while Paul was campaigning for the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries.[31]
• On February 1 and February 7, 2012, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was glitter bombed by protesters.[32][33]
• On September 21, 2016, Kevin Johnson, the Mayor of Sacramento, was pied by Sean Thompson at a charity event. Johnson punched Thompson who was later arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges.[34][35]
• On February 17, 2017, a middle school student threw a block of wood at President Donald Trump's motorcade in Palm Beach, Florida.[24]

See also

• Glitter bombing
• List of shoe-throwing incidents
• Pieing

References

1. "Australia 'egg boy' clash: Senator cleared as teenager handed caution". BBC News. 9 April 2019. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019.
2. "Flour thrown at French presidential contender Hollande". CNN. February 1, 2012. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012.
3. "French protesters egg the country's economy minister". The Telegraph. June 6, 2016. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017.
4. "WATCH: Ex French PM Manuel Valls attacked with FLOUR BOMB by furious protester". Express. December 22, 2016. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017.
5. "Demonstrator flour-bombs French presidential candidate Fillon". TRT World. April 6, 2017. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017.
6. "Culture of Resistance: Protesting Greece's Politics With Yogurt". September 16, 2013. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020.
7. "Don't waste a milkshake on politicians..." East Anglian Daily Times. May 30, 2019. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019.
8. "Shoeing, pieing and 7 other things politicians have had thrown at them". The Journal. May 26, 2012. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019.
9. "Manifestantes jogam pedras e ovos contra Caravana de Lula no sul do país". ISTOÉ Independente (in Portuguese). 2018-03-26. Archived from the original on 2018-03-29.
10. "One Man Killed; Other Injured; 5,000 in Streets". Pittsburgh Daily Post. August 15, 1908. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Lamb, Chris (April 7, 2020). The Art of the Political Putdown: The Greatest Comebacks, Ripostes, and Retorts in History. Chronicle Books. p. 91. ISBN 9781452183961 – via Google Books.
12. "4 weird moments from Richard Nixon's 1960s visits to Muskegon". Michigan Live. September 20, 2016. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019.
13. "Ted Kennedy hit by egg". Morning News. November 9, 1979. p. 8. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Raw Egg Tossed At Kennedy". The Indianapolis News. November 9, 1979. p. 31. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "A Recent History of Things That Have Been Thrown at Political Figures". Intelligencer. December 10, 2009. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018.
16. ""Al Pieda" Targets Ann Coulter". The Smoking Gun. October 22, 2004. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019.
17. "Pundit Faces Pie Attack in Speech at Earlham College". The Chronicle. March 31, 2005. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020.
18. "Book thrown at Barack Obama as supporter streaks". The Telegraph. October 12, 2010. Archived from the original on June 11, 2017.
19. Tan, Emily (Aug 18, 2010). "Woman, 23, Arrested for Pie-ing U.S. Senator". Lemondrop.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010.
20. "US presidential candidate Newt Gingrich showered in glitter". BBC News. May 18, 2011. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011.
21. Roberts, Christine (June 17, 2011). "Protesters glitter bomb GOP candidate Tim Pawlenty". Daily News. Archived from the original on June 20, 2011.
22. "Bachmann joins the glitteratti". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. June 18, 2011. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012.
23. "In New Hampshire, fringe candidates get their moment". Reuters. December 20, 2011. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011.
24. "Donald Trump joins ranks of politicians with stuff thrown at them". AJC. February 21, 2017. Archived from the original on July 13, 2017.
25. "Egyptians pelt Clinton motorcade with tomatoes". Reuters. 2012-07-16. Archived from the original on 2020-02-15.
26. "Rick Santorum Gets Glitter Bombed, Again". MSNBC. January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
27. "Santorum recipient of another 'glitter bomb'". Myfoxorlando.com. January 23, 2012. Archived from the original on January 27, 2012.
28. "Santorum in Tacoma: Protesters and a Glitter Bomb". wsj.com. February 14, 2012. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012.
29. "Even In Fargo, Rick Santorum Cannot Escape The Glitter Bomb". buzzfeed.com. February 15, 2012. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012.
30. Morgenstern, Madeleine (January 29, 2012). "Occupy DC Targets Exclusive Presidential Dinner, Sen. Lieberman Glitter-Bombed". The Blaze. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012.
31. "Ron Paul glitterbombed at Minneapolis Convention Center". blogs.citypages.com. February 6, 2012. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012.
32. "Mitt Romney glitter bombed, calls it confetti". CBS News. February 1, 2012. Archived from the original on February 2, 2012.
33. 04/13/2012 8:41 am Updated: 04/13/2012 9:01 am (2012-04-13). "Mitt Romney Glitter Bomb: Peter Smith Pleads Guilty To Disturbing The Peace For Glitter Bombing After Colo. Caucus (PHOTOS, VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2012-06-30.
34. Ellen Garrison and Jessica Hice (2016-09-21). "Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson assaulted with pie at benefit dinner". sacbee.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-23.
35. Staff (2016-09-22). "Mayor Kevin Johnson beats up protester who pied him". nypost.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-23.