Details: Jagland had just finished his May Day speech when protesters threw a cream pie in his face, for his "drift to the right." He laughed off the attack and called cream pie throwing "an epidemic." The week before, a teenage girl had thrown a cream cake in the face of local government minister Silvia Brustad to protest housing shortages for young people.
1122. Date: May 16, 2001
Target: Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
Location: Rhyl, North Wales
Details: Prescott got off a bus at a campaign stop and followed police along a crowd of 30 protesters. A man threw an egg, striking Prescott in the head, and Prescott retaliated by punching the man in the face. The two began to brawl and the man pushed Prescott back against a wall before police dragged him off. Prescott then made his way into the building. The man was arrested for assault.
1123. Date: May 17, 2001
Target: Former President Bill Clinton
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Details: Clinton was jeered by anti-globalization protesters and hit by an egg while visiting Poland on a speaking tour. The egg struck his sleeve, and police arrested the man.
1124. Date: June 8, 2001
Target: Victorian Premier Steven Philip Bracks
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Details: Bracks was walking along holding the hand of an Aboriginal boy at the Magistrate's Court Building, when a protester struck Bracks with a cream pie. The boy fell and suffered bruising. The protester was arrested on several charges of assault and reckless conduct.
1125. Date: June 12, 2001
Target: Fashion Designers Calvin Klein and Karl Lagerfield
Location: New York, New York
Details: Klein and Lagerfield were walking up the red carpet at the 20th annual American Fashion Awards at Lincoln Center. Two animal rights activists stormed up yelling, "Fur pimp," and "Fur kills," and threw two tofu pies. Their aim was at Lagerfield, but they struck Klein. Two other protesters threw two more pies from behind a barricaded area. Six members of PETA were arrested for disorderly conduct.
1126. Date: July 2, 2001
Target: President Alexander Lukashenko
Location: Minsk, Belarus
Details: An unemployed man lobbed a tomato at Lukashenko during a celebration for Independence Day. The man was jailed for seven days for hooliganism.
1127. Date: September 5, 2001
Target: King Carl XVI Gustaf
Location: Varberg, Sweden
Details: While the king and queen visited a park with about 500 onlookers, a protester rushed forward, squeezed past bodyguards, and threw a cream cake into the king's face. The youth was immediately arrested.
1128. Date: August 14, 2001
Target: President George W. Bush
Location: Estes Park, Colorado
Details: A man was arrested for allegedly urging people to throw rolls of toilet paper decorated with Bush's face at the presidential motorcade as it drove past. The man was charged with disturbing the peace.
1129. Date: October 13, 2001
Target: Opposition Leader Morgan Tsvangirai
Location: Kadoma, Zimbabwe
Details: A mob of about 70 people hurled stones at Tsvangirai's car, smashing the windows as he traveled to a party meeting. His car was also attacked July 27 by stone-throwing youths, smashing the windows. No one was injured and none of the attackers were arrested.
1130. Date: April 13, 2002
Target: Presidential Candidate Francois Bayrou
Location: Rennes, France
Details: As Bayrou campaigned at an open market, two youths hit him in the face with cream pies. They were protesting the fact that Bayrou had slapped a boy who tried to pick his pocket earlier in the week.
1131. Date: April 17, 2002
Target: Prime Minister Lionel Jospin (Presidential Candidate)
Location: Rennes, France
Details: As Jospin was walking through a crowd at a political rally, two protesting teenagers squirted him in the face with ketchup. He stopped to wipe it off, then left the hall to admonish his attackers. He later returned to the rally, wearing a clean shirt.
1132. Date: July 9, 2002
Target: Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber
Location: Hamburg, Bavaria
Details: While addressing an unruly crowd, people lobbed eggs and tomatoes at Stoiber. Security guards blocked the thrown objects with umbrellas.
1133. Date: November 22, 2002
Target: Secretary General Lord Robertson
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Details: Roberson was delivering the closing press conference at a NATO summit. Two young Russian protesters shouted, "NATO is worse than the Gestapo," and threw two tomatoes at Robertson, missing him. Security guards escorted the men away. Despite heavy protection, the men had entered the summit posing as reporters.
1134. Date: March 18, 2003
Target: Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Details: Rasmussen was on his way to a news conference in the Parliament when a peace activist poured red paint from two plastic containers onto Rasmussen. Paint also struck Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller. Security guards wrestled the activist away and he was arrested. He was protesting Rasmussen's pro-U.S. stand against Iraq.
1135. Date: May 4, 2003
Target: Italian Activist Luca Casarini
Location: New York, New York
Details: Casarini had just entered a feminist bookstore where he was scheduled to speak on anti-authoritarianism and academia. A male protester stood in front of Casarini to block his view and blew a whistle to capture everyone's attention. Then a feminist protester brought a cream pie out from under her coat and hit Casarini in the face with it. She then fled out the door, as her male companion handed out a communique.
1136. Date: June 1, 2003
Target: Reverend Fred Phelps
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Details: An anti-gay protest group stood behind barricades at the Lincoln High School graduation, because the school was giving a scholarship to a gay student. The group was from Phelps' congregation in Topeka, Kansas. Shortly before the graduation began, four people dressed in black and carrying messenger bags, approached Phelps' group and threw cream pies at them. Police charged the four with disorderly conduct.
1137. Date: July 6, 2003
Target: House Speaker Dennis Hastert
Location: Dixon, Illinois
Details: A man was arrested for felony aggravated battery after tossing a water balloon at Hastert during a parade. The balloon broke on an antique fire truck driven by Hastert, who got wet.
1138. Date: July 7, 2003
Target: Premier Ralph Klein
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Details: Klein was attending his annual "Stampede Breakfast," when a young man rushed forward and slammed a cream pie into his face. Security officials quickly apprehended the man and two others believed involved in the incident. They were charged with assault.
1139. Date: August 12, 2003
Target: Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader
Location: San Francisco, California
Details: Nader was participating in a press conference when a man ran into the room, shoved a cream pie into Nader's face, and then made a quick exit. Nader was there to endorse a Green Party candidate for the California governor's race.
1140. Date: August 28, 2003
Target: U.S. Trade Official Peter Allgeier
Location: Rio de Janerio, Brazil
Details: During a meeting, a university student rushed forward and smashed a cream pie into Allgeier's face. The student belonged to the protest group Bakers Without Borders.
1141. Date: September 3, 2003
Target: Gubernatorial Candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger
Location: Long Beach, California
Details: Schwarzenegger attended a large political rally on a university campus, attended by several thousand students.
As he walked along a path lined with people, he was struck on the left shoulder with an egg. A security agent immediately brushed off the egg and helped Schwarzenegger to remove his jacket, all done without breaking stride on the way to the stage. The candidate later joked, "Now the guy owes me some bacon." Video of the incident was played on the Oprah Winfrey Show, presenting the candidate in a favorable light because of his humor.
1142. Date: September 20, 2003
Target: Israeli Minister Natan Sharansky
Location: Rutgers University, New Jersey
Details: Sharansky was about to speak at a university event when a college student struck him in the face with a cream pie. The student was charged with disorderly conduct.
1143. Date: September 26, 2003
Target: Illusionist David Blaine
Location: London, England
Details: Blaine had locked himself in an acrylic glass box in a stunt to go 44 days without food. About half way through his stunt, Henry Cookson built a catapult and fired several paint bombs, one scoring a direct hit on Blaine's box. Police arrested Cookson for criminal damage.
1144. Date: December 22, 2003
Target: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Details: Maher, on his first visit to Israel in more than two years, was at the Al Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem when a small group of extremist worshippers started shouting at him and trying to assault him. Bodyguards surrounded him and hustled him out of the compound, supporting him briefly as he appeared to lose his balance. Witnesses heard him saying, "I'm going to choke, I'm going to choke," as Muslims threw shoes at him both inside and outside the mosque.
1145. Date: March 17, 2004
Target: World Bank President John Wolfensohn and Slovenian Minister for Finance Dusan Mramor
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Details: Anti-globalization protesters threw paint in the faces of Wolfensohn and Mramor as they walked in front of the government palace.
1146. Date: March 31, 2004
Target: Businessman George Soros
Location: Kiev, Ukraine
Details: Soros was attending a human rights forum when two young men burst into the room and poured glue and water on him. Security personnel led the men from the room while they shouted anti-Soros statements.
1147. Date: April 25, 2004
Target: National Front Leader Jean-Marie Le Pen
Location: Manchester, England
Details: About 100 demonstrators emptied a garbage can on Le Pen's car and pelted it with eggs, as he left a press conference for the far-right, anti-immigration, British National Party. Le Pen was under heavy security by British police and private bodyguards, who fought with protesters attempting to block his car from leaving.
1148. Date: May 19, 2004
Target: Prime Minister Tony Blair
Location: London, England
Details: While Blair was making a speech in Parliament, two men seated in the gallery each threw a condom filled with purple powder, striking Blair in the shoulder. Fearing a toxic substance, Parliament was evacuated and both men were arrested for disorderly conduct. They were protesting Fathers' Rights.
1149. Date: September 24, 2004
Target: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych
Location: Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
Details: A thrown object struck Yanukovych while campaigning. The object was originally reported as being a rock, but later as an egg. He fell to the ground and was rushed away by security personnel. He was later reported to be in stable condition in a hospital. A teen was reportedly arrested.
1150. Date: October 21, 2004
Target: Columnist Ann Coulter
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Details: Two men ran onstage and threw custard pies at Coulter as she was giving a speech to a University of Arizona crowd. She saw them charging her, turned, and ran toward the rear of the stage. One pie missed and the other grazed her shoulder. The men were tackled and arrested.
1151. Date: December 31, 2004
Target: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
Location: Rome, Italy
Details: Berlusconi was slightly injured when a tourist threw a camera tripod at him in a packed Rome square. Berlusconi was hit behind the ear by the tripod, during an impromptu walkabout in Piazza Navona shortly after sunset. Berlusconi was bruised in the attack and saw a doctor as a precautionary measure. The assailant was seized immediately after the assault, and reportedly stated, "I did it because I hate him. I certainly didn't plan this, but when I saw him there greeting the crowds, I couldn't stop myself."
1152. Date: March 29, 2005
Target: Editor William Kristol
Location: Richmond, Indiana
Details: Kristol was lecturing at Earlham College when a man jumped onto the stage and splattered him with an ice cream pie. Members of the audience jeered the student as he walked off the stage, then applauded as Kristol wiped the goo off his face with a paper towel and said, "Just let me finish this point."
1153. Date: March 31, 2005
Target: Commentator Pat Buchanan
Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Details: Buchanan was addressing a crowd of students at Western Michigan University, when a student jumped up in front of the lectern and hurled salad dressing on him. The student shouted, "Stop the bigotry." He was arrested. Buchanan stated, "Thank you all for coming, but I'm going to have to get my hair washed."
1154. Date: April 6, 2005
Target: Activist David Horowitz
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Details: Horowitz had just started a lecture at Butler University when he was struck with a pie. Horowitz's supporters followed the assailants out of the hall, and confronted them with what a witness called "pushing and shoving." However, the attackers got away. After the incident, Horowitz completed his lecture.
1155. Date: June 19, 2005
Target: Actor Tom Cruise
Location: London, England
Details: Cruise was attending a movie premier and was moving along a press line, answering questions from reporters. One reporter held out a fake mike, and squirted Cruise in the face with water. Cruise kept his cool, and lectured the prankster, finally calling him a "jerk" several times. He then turned and walked away. Police arrested four men, but Cruise did not press charges. They were reportedly working on a televised comedy program, which involves playing pranks on celebrities and members of the public.
1156. Date: October 8, 2005
Target: Editor Anna Wintour
Location: Paris, France
Details: French anti-fur activists with PETA struck Wintour in the face with a cream pie to protest against her support of fur in the fashion industry. Wintour, dressed in a fur-trimmed jacket, was hit in the face with a tofu cream pie as she left a fashion show. It was the second such attack this year on Wintour, an unapologetic fur supporter decried by animal rights groups as a "pelt pusher."
1157. Date: October 20, 2005
Target: Presidential Candidate Dumarsais Simeus
Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Details: While touring a slum area, 20 young men and women reportedly began hurling rocks and shouting insults at his motorcade. A reporter reportedly heard a gunshot fired from the crowd, but it didn't hit any of the vehicles. The motorcade immediately fled the area.
1158. Date: December 12, 2005
Target: BBC Presenter Jeremy Clarkson
Location: Oxford, England
Details: Clarkson was attending a ceremony at Oxford Brookes University to receive an honorary degree. His controversial stance on environmental issues had drawn a small group of protesters. As he was leaving the ceremony escorted by a security guard, a protester struck him in the face with a pie. Clarkson said, "Great shot," and commented the pie had too much sugar.
1159. Date: January 13, 2006
Target: Actor Heath Ledger
Location:
Sydney, Australia
Details: Five paparazzi photographers, who claim Ledger spit at them last year, retaliated by squirting him with water pistols outside the premiere of his movie "Brokeback Mountain." As Ledger arrived with co-star Michelle Williams at Cinema Paris, the photographers reportedly squirted him in the face and chest for ten seconds, wetting his hair and clothing. Ledger raised his hands to protect himself and attempted to shield Williams, who was also sprayed, as the couple rushed inside the cinema. Security guards moved toward the five photographers, but they fled the scene.
1160. Date: February 15, 2006
Target: Designer Julien Macdonald and Celebrity Paris Hilton
Location: Mayfair, England
Details: Macdonald and Hilton got out of their car in front of a nightclub and were posing for pictures. An anti-fur protester reportedly with PETA emptied flour on them. Both were reportedly covered from head to toe. The female protester was held by door staff while they called police, but she escaped when sirens came into earshot. Members of PETA promised further attacks on those who continue to design fur coats.
1161. Date: April 7, 2006
Target: U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield
Location: Caracas, Venezuela
Details: Brownfield was distributing baseball equipment to little leaguers in a baseball stadium, when supporters of President Hugo Chavez demanded that he leave. On their departure, the ambassador and his four-car motorcade drove through an adjacent market where Chavez supporters began throwing produce and eggs. Motorcyclists then chased the entourage for about four miles on Caracas' main east-west highway, at times pounding on the ambassador's car. Venezuelan police officers assigned to the motorcade reportedly did nothing.
1162. Date: October 30, 2006
Target: Singer Barbara Streisand
Location: Sunrise, Florida
Details: During a skit in her concert, Streisand traded political barbs with a George W. Bush imitator. A fan in the crowd, who apparently disagreed with her politics, threw a paper cup filled with some sort of liquid on stage, but apparently did not hit Streisand. Her manager said she shrugged off the incident and responded to the angry audience member by saying: "It's a free country and they're entitled to express their opinion."
Section 3B: Pests, Protesters, and Pranksters
Though the title of this section could seem to describe cases that are not serious, one need only read the details of the July 9, 1982 incident involving Queen Elizabeth to see that the level of risk can be very high, regardless of a perpetrator's intent or ability.
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