What would the shoe thrower be charged with if it happened here?

[RiverStone]

Picture the exact same scenario on US soil; an attempt to injure a president certainly carries some major legal consequences - even with a shoe to the face. Lets assume the reporter is entirely sane and knows exactly what he was doing (which IMO is true on both counts).

I loathe Shrub, but for this question - lets call it president generic. It could be Shrub or Obama or...?

Anybody know what type of consequences the perpetrator would be looking at?

[MineralMan]

1. If someone here assaulted a foreign head of state in that way,

The charges would be pretty serious, and the person would be likely to do some felony time. Of this I have no doubt.

The shoe thrower knew that he would face criminal charges. That is what give his act some weight and makes it an important symbol. If there were no consequences to be faced, it would be much less effective a demonstration of contempt for Bush's phony war.

It is perfect civil disobedience. The potential consequences lend credibility to the act.

[Cleita]

2. Wasn't Cindy Sheehan arrested for wearing a T-shirt * didn't like?

I wonder what would have happened if she had thrown something at him?

[EFerrari]

23. Yes, she was. People were thrown out of public gatherings for bumper stickers.

The St. Paul Police raided the lodgings of a group of videographers before they even went out and taped anything.

You don't have to throw anything here to be mistreated and arrested and charged with felonies.

[rateyes]

3. I guess it would be attempted assault.

I would personally bail him out, and throw a party in his honor.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. I couldn't let you do that all by yourself. I'd have to chip in. nt

[Pavulon]

7. If the SS

didn't see it as a weapon and shoot them. It is one thing to die for being a stupid asshole, but to get other people in a room killed is pretty shitty. I am sure the SS will be even more laid back after this incident.

[Pavulon]

4. So a press member throws a nikon d3

at obama and hits or misses him. A hit would hurt, especially with a big wide angle lens. May draw blood or break a facial bone. Either way you aren't going to make bail in 24 hours. You may get shot in the process or set of an event that gets others shot when the SS reacts to you.

But hey someone has to speak truth to power. I mean unless you agree with everyone all they way you should be free to up and throw a shoe, chair, whatever. It is like a basic human right man..

[stillcool]

10. Yeah..screw the Iraqi's and their customs..

Don't they know they're Americans now, and do things our way? I think they need to be bombed a little more, they obviously don't get it.

http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2005/12/iraq_parliament.html

Dec 06, 2005
Iraq Parliamentary Elections: Allawi Gets The Boot

If you recall, Najaf is the home base of Moktada al-Sadr, now a coalition partner in the main Shi'ite electoral slate, the United Iraqi Alliance. Also, Najaf was the scene of a military standoff in August 2004 between U.S. troops and al-Sadr's militia. As the Prime Minister at the time, Allawi, a secular Shi'ite (and ex-C.I.A. operative) stood solidly behind the U.S. effort.


It may have been because he interrupted a funeral. (In the third shot from the top, you can see a casket being led out the entrance with Allawi's contingent just beyond.) The yellow circles in the next two shots are not thought bubbles. They are evidentiary circles drawn to point out how Allawi and company were run off in a hail of shoes.

I guess Allawi's Ba'athist past doesn't make him the most popular guy in more religious Shi'ite strongholds. Many cultures have unique rituals of social denunciation. In Iraq, as I'm told, the throwing of shoes is the single worst insult that a person can make.

[Pavulon]

12. Shoe dude should pay a fine

do a week in jail and be let go. He is looking at an insane charge and iraq probably ranks low on places to serve time.

I am no fan of the act but the response is harsh.

The person in the office of potus is afforded protection. The fact some dude COULD throw a shoe is more concerning.

[stillcool]

20. I wonder what kind of sentence..

is normally handed out for throwing a shoe in Iraq, shooting guns in the air..etc.,..all those crazy things those crazy Iraqi's do when they're not getting blown up..or while they are.

[LeftyMom]

11. then I hope to catch the thing.

I have my priorities, and a free camera's a free camera.

I'd ebay the shoes, too.

[Pavulon]

14. Damn straight about 8grand

in that setup. d body with nikor 14 - 24mm zoom. I'd keep it.

Seriously though, I dont like the fact someone could get that close. The office is protected. Out guy or their guy deserves to survive his term.

[LeftyMom]

15. I was shocked at that when I saw the video.

The excuse later was that they'd screened everybody for weapons first. Well screenings aren't perfect, weapons get hidden in advance, snuck past screening, etc, so if you're guarding somebody and somebody starts yelling and throwing things at them, you really do have to assume they may be armed until proven otherwise and act appropriately. Especially in a freakin' warzone, when you're guarding a guy who is less popular than most venereal diseases.

[stillcool]

21. Weapons get snuck past?...In Iraq?

If that were the case, there would be a lot more dead Americans.

[stillcool]

5. I don't know...

what would happen if an American through an egg at the Prime Minister of Iraq in this country?

[slackmaster]

8. In California it would fall under Section 240 of our Penal Code

240. An assault is an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present
ability, to commit a violent injury on the person of another.

241. (a) An assault is punishable by a fine not exceeding one
thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not
exceeding six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

If the incident occurred at a school or in a park, the sentence would be stiffer.

241.2. (a) (1) When an assault is committed on school or park
property against any person, the assault is punishable by a fine not
exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in the
county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and
imprisonment.

And of course since the President of the United States is commander in chief of the US military, Section 241.8 would probably apply.

241.8. (a) Any person who commits an assault against a member of
the United States Armed Forces because of the victim's service in the
United States Armed Forces shall be punished by a fine not exceeding
two thousand dollars ($2,000), by imprisonment in a county jail for
a period not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and
imprisonment.
(b) "Because of" means that the bias motivation must be a cause in
fact of the assault, whether or not other causes exist. When
multiple concurrent motives exist, the prohibited bias must be a
substantial factor in bringing about the assault.

[RiverStone]

16. In a fair and just society, one would think this code would apply...

In Shrub's Iraq, maybe a legal outcome such as this or a little more severe would occur. Yet in Shrub's Iraq, we hear the fellow may experience (or has experienced per the torture rumors) far greater consequences.

That is the Iraq that we have paid so dearly for to liberate.

Back to the shoe, if it was a camera (as someone said upthread) I can imagine the charge being worse as a hard camera could cause serious injury if you threw a strike.

This entire case will be a referendum on what and who constitutes fair and just punishment. Of course, from the perspective of the reporter who made the throw, his country has already been punished beyond repair for the loss of innocent life.

It's all perspective.

[sui generis]

9. death by firing squad

attempted capital murder, blah blah snore.

We'll make it up if we can't find a law that got broken.

Why on earth isn't his secret service detail being put to the gas chamber? I mean, if they missed a shoe, and then another shoe, what else might they have missed?

There are sharks and stupid people in the ocean, just like there are planets in the solar system. If you're going to punish the stupid person for throwing a shoe at a shark, or more likely, vice versa, shoe meet stupid person, shouldn't you also punish the tour operator?

[izquierdista]

13. Resisting arrest

Nice catchall category for using his head to impede security's stomping on the floor.

[ben_thayer]

17. Footwear abuse NT

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[ContraBass Black]

18. Assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.

Case would be open and shut on the video evidence.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

19. Maybe "Protesting While Brown" ?

[damntexdem]

22. I don't know, but he'd probably be called an arch villian.

They'd probably cobble together some prosecution case.