page_title: Bush shoeing incident
section_title: Event
hierarchical_section_title: Bush shoeing incident / Event
caption_attribution_description: English: A fictional depiction of the shoe thrown at President Bush during a press conference in Iraq in 2008. (Security agents destroyed the shoes thrown at US President George W Bush by an Iraqi journalist during checks to ensure they did not contain explosives). Photograph taken at a museum called Mmuseum in New York City.
context_page_description: On December 14, 2008, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw both of his shoes at United States President George W. Bush during an Iraqi press conference. Bush quickly ducked, avoiding being hit by either of the shoes. The second shoe hit the US flag, and Al-Zaidi was subsequently grabbed, kicked, and hurried out of the room by guards. Effigies of many United States Presidents had long appeared with shoes on them all over the Middle East, but it was not until this event that shoeing had received widespread notability. Since then, there have been many other shoeing incidents on an international scale. Al-Zaidi received a three-year prison sentence, which was reduced to two years. On September 15, 2009, after nine months of incarceration, he was released early because he had no prior criminal record.
context_section_description: During a December 14, 2008 press conference at the prime minister's palace in Baghdad, Iraq, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw both of his shoes at United States President George W. Bush. Bush was scheduled to leave office roughly five weeks later, following the inauguration of his successor Barack Obama.  "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, dog", he yelled in Arabic as he threw his first shoe.  "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq," he shouted as he threw his second shoe. President Bush ducked twice to avoid being hit by the shoes, and Prime Minister Maliki attempted to catch one of the shoes to protect him. Al-Zaidi was pulled to the floor before being grabbed by Prime Minister Maliki's guards, kicked, and rushed out of the room. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino was hit in the face by a microphone boom knocked over by a presidential bodyguard, resulting in a black eye.
  President Bush said that some Iraqi reporters had apologized to him. "Thanks for apologizing on behalf of the Iraqi people. It doesn't bother me," he said. "If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe that he threw."
  When asked about the incident by another reporter, President Bush said, "It's a way for people to draw attention. I don't know what the guy's cause was. I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it." When later asked to reflect on the incident, President Bush said, "I didn't have much time to reflect on anything, I was ducking and dodging. I'm not angry with the system. I believe that a free society is emerging, and a free society is necessary for our own security and peace." Perino said: "I don't think that you can take one guy throwing his shoe as representative of the people of Iraq."
  Al-Zaidi was initially held by the prime minister's guards and was later turned over to the Iraqi army's Baghdad command. The command handed him over to the Iraqi judiciary. Hundreds took to the streets to demand his release. Al-Zaidi could have faced charges of insulting a foreign leader and the Iraqi prime minister. A conviction of these charges could have carried a sentence of up to two years in prison or a small fine, although it would have been unlikely to face the maximum penalty given his newfound "cult status" in the Arab world, according to a Middle-East observer.  An Iraqi lawyer stated that al-Zaidi was likely to get at least two years in prison if he was prosecuted. Al-Zaidi went before a judge on December 17, 2008. He declined to be represented by Khalil al-Duleimi, who defended the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein before his execution, and also said that he wanted to be represented by an Iraqi lawyer. "I will introduce myself as his lawyer and demand the case be closed and Muntader be released because he did not commit a crime," said Dheyaa al-Saadi, al-Zaidi's lawyer and head of the Iraqi Bar Association. "He only freely expressed himself to the occupier, and he has such a right according to international law." On December 17, 2008, al-Zaidi appeared privately before a judge from within the Green Zone.
caption: A fictional depiction of the shoe thrown at President Bush during a press conference in Iraq in 2008.[10] Photograph taken at a New York City museum called Mmuseumm. The actual shoes were destroyed by US-Iraqi authorities to prevent them from becoming a rallying symbol.
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