George W. Bush shoe-throwing incident
| George W. Bush shoe-throwing incident | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Iraq War | |
Bush ducks under one of al-Zaidi's shoes as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki attempts to parry it. | |
| Location | |
| Date | 14 December 2008 |
| Target | George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States |
Attack type | Shoe-throwing |
| Weapons | Pair of shoes |
| Injured | 2 (Dana Perino and Muntadhar al-Zaidi, neither of the injuries were caused by the shoes) |
| Perpetrator | Muntadhar al-Zaidi |
| Motive | Retaliation for casualties of the Iraq War |
| Convictions | Assaulting a foreign head of state during an official visit |
| Sentence | 1 year imprisonment (released after 9 months) |
On 14 December 2008, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi removed his shoes and threw them at United States president George W. Bush during a joint press conference with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, Iraq. Bush quickly ducked, avoiding being hit by either shoe. The second shoe collided with a U.S. flag positioned behind Bush. Al-Zaidi was subsequently grabbed, kicked, and removed from the room by security.
Al-Zaidi received a three-year prison sentence, which was reduced by two years. On 15 September 2009, after nine months of imprisonment, he was released early as he had no prior criminal record.
There have since been many other shoe-throwing incidents on an international scale.