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| Replica of shoe thrown at George W. Bush |
Constantius II, Roman Emperor, was giving a speech from a small hill to a group of Limigantes to ask for their loyalty, when he was hit by a shoe thrown by one of them. The thrower shouted 'Marha, marha!' in a "signal of war."2008
7 April: Arbab Ghulam Rahim, the former Chief Minister of Sindh, Pakistan, was leaving the back door of the Sindh assembly building after taking oath as a newly elected member when he was hit by a shoe thrown by Agha Javed Pathan, a worker from the Pakistan Peoples Party.
14 December: During a press conference at the Prime Minister's Palace in Baghdad, Iraq, journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at then United States President George W. Bush. "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!" yelled al-Zaidi in Arabic as he threw his first shoe towards the U.S. president. "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, avoiding being hit by the shoes.
17 December: Queens resident and Amtrak employee Stephen Millies, a protestor at a meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), tried to throw his shoe at the CEO of the MTA with the statement, "This shoe is for you!" Millies managed to shake off his left shoe before being stopped and detained by MTA Police.
17 December: The anti-war group Code Pink pelted shoes at an effigy of then-U.S. President George W. Bush outside the White House. Protesters presented their shoes at U.S. embassies around the world to show their support for al-Zaidi.
19 December: Ukrainian reporter Ihor Dmitriv pelted a Ukrainian politician with a shoe when Dmitriv became angered by the politician's sexist remarks. Speaking about Ukraine's possible accession to NATO, Oleh Soskin said NATO membership was more favored by the Ukrainian women, as they were "the more intelligent" part of the body politic. Dmitriv said his attack was motivated by the Ukrainian leadership's "craziness" and said "a shoe is going to become a leading means (for common people) to influence their leaders."
20 December: Protesters in Montreal and Toronto threw shoes at posters of then-U.S. President George W. Bush in front of their respective U.S. consulates to support Muntadhar al-Zaidi, to demand his immediate release, and to celebrate his gesture. The shoe tosses took place in −24 °C weather during protests against the U.S. military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and against Canada's involvement in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. At the shoe toss event in Toronto, Ahmed Habib, a refugee from Baghdad, said, "We don't think of Muntadhar al-Zaidi as a criminal but, in fact, we think of him as a hero. The only war criminal is George Bush and his buddy Stephen Harper, so shame on the both of them." At the shoe toss event in Montreal, Québec solidaire leader and MNA Amir Khadir threw his shoes at a picture of President Bush and was later criticized and accused of betraying the "dignity and responsibilities of a[n] MNA."
More shoe-throwing incidents here.
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