It happened today: 14 years ago when Iraqi journalist threw shoe at George W. Bush

On December 14, 2008, an Iraqi journalist threw both his shoes at George Bush, the then President of the United States, at an Iraqi press conference. Bush quickly ducked, avoiding being hit by either of the shoes.

Muntazer al-Zaidi was, however, sentenced to serve nine months in jail.

Widely regarded as a hero for his daring spirit, he often replies to many users who mention him on the microblogging site Twitter.

After serving his nine-term imprisonment, Muntazer was freed in September, 2019. He then explained his reasons for throwing his shows at Bush via an opinion piece in The Guardian.

"I am no hero. I just acted as an Iraqi who witnessed the pain and bloodshed of too many innocents," he wrote.

"I took it out of loyalty to every drop of innocent blood that has been shed through the occupation or because of it, every scream of a bereaved mother, every moan of an orphan, the sorrow of a rape victim, the teardrop of an orphan.

"When I threw the shoe in the face of the criminal, George Bush, I wanted to express my rejection of his lies, his occupation of my country, my rejection of his killing my people. My rejection of his plundering the wealth of my country, and destroying its infrastructure."

Watch the video of the infamous incident below:

Published on: Wednesday, December 14, 2022, 09:53 PM IST