The Lede: Sarkozy Assaulted at Public Appearance

 

Updated | 2:35 p.m. A man grabbed French President Nicolas Sarkozy and yanked him nearly to the ground on Thursday during an appearance in southwestern France.

As Mr. Sarkozy moved down a barricade greeting a small crowd in the town of Brax, about 70 miles from Toulouse, a hand reached out and grabbed Mr. Sarkozy hard by the lapel of his dark suit, throwing him against a metal barrier.

The man, identified by the French daily Le Monde as a 32-year-old from the surrounding region of Lot-et-Garonne, was quickly tackled to the ground by French security. He is currently being held by police and his name was not given.

While Mr. Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was shot at during a parade in 2002 — by an assailant who concealed a .22-caliber hunting rifle in a guitar case — the newspaper Libération reported that this was the first time any French president had been grabbed in this manner.

The attempt on Mr. Chirac’s life was carried out by “a far-right activist, Maxime Brunerie,” who “pulled a rifle from a guitar case.” At the time, aides to Mr. Chirac said that he did not hear the gunfire but was informed of the incident later.

The violent greeting was captured on video, which circulated quickly and caused a stir online and in the French press. While many speculated at the motivation of the assailant, which was not immediately known, others appeared to play down the attack. “These are the vicissitudes of political life, and as far as I know — and fortunately — the Republic was not endangered,” said Dominique de Villepin, the former French prime minister.

Though the attack caused a shock in France, not long ago, another European leader found himself the target of an enraged constituent during a public appearance (what the French sometimes call “bathing in the crowd.”)

In December 2009, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy was hit in the face by a statuette of a cathedral at a political rally in Milan. That assault caused significant bleeding and Mr. Berlusconi was rushed from the chaotic scene as Italians wrestled the assailant to the ground.

By contrast, Mr. Sarkozy appeared shaken but unharmed after Thursday’s assault. Another difference: it seemed unlikely to spur the sale of local tchotchkes — as the attack on the Italian leader did for souvenir sellers in Milan.

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World Briefing | Europe: Sarkozy Is Assaulted as He Meets Voters

The exact motives of the assailant, who the police say was unarmed, remain unclear. But his ability to get so close to France’s head of state and physically assault him, before being tackled by security guards seconds later and detained, may raise concerns about presidential security just as the campaigning for the 2012 election gets under way.

Mr. Sarkozy had come to the southwestern French town of Brax to attend a meeting of mayors and after welcoming back two French hostages released from 18 months in Taliban captivity earlier in the day.

In video shown on several television stations, the president appeared relaxed as he reached across metal barriers to shake hands with a group of local residents. Suddenly an arm is seen shooting forward to grab the president’s shoulder and pull him toward the crowd.

Mr. Sarkozy lost his balance and stumbled forward before catching himself on the barricade, and then was swiftly surrounded by his surprised bodyguards.

The local police could not be reached for comment, but French news reports identified his attacker as Hermann Fuster, 32, from the nearby town of Agen. An employee of the municipal conservatory, he was arrested and being questioned in Agen. One police official, cited by the Web site of the weekly L’Express, said he wanted to challenge the president on France’s war effort in Libya.

It is the closest an attacker has come to harming a French president since 2002, when a far right activist pulled a rifle out of a guitar case at a Bastille Day rally and shot at Mr. Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac. (Mr. Chirac escaped unharmed, and the gunman, Maxime Brunerie, was later convicted of attempted murder.)

On Thursday, Mr. Sarkozy’s office declined to immediately comment on the incident on or any potential consequences on the president’s security protocol. But according to L’Express, the president did not plan to press charges. “No, no problem, no problem,” he told the television channel i-tele shortly after the incident.

Such sangfroid is in contrast to past confrontations featuring the president.

Before Thursday, Mr. Sarkozy had never been the object of a physical attack since taking office in May 2007. But he has faced — and engaged in — several tense verbal exchanges that have given him a reputation for a defensive and quick temper.

In October 2007, he abruptly cut short an interview with the American television network CBS and called his press secretary at the time an “imbecile” for setting it up. A month later he challenged a protesting fisherman who had heckled at him. “Come down and say that again,” Mr. Sarkozy said.

In 2008, Mr. Sarkozy exploded at a man who refused to shake his hand during the annual agricultural fair. The man accused the president of “dirtying” him, and Mr. Sarkozy snapped back with an insult that is mildly translated as “get lost, you jerk.”

Mr. Sarkozy was a divisive figure long before he was elected president. As interior minister in 2005 he became a target for rioting youths in a three-week uprising in poor and ethnically mixed suburbs, not least after he famously referred to them as “scum.” For years he avoided returning to the suburbs and has carefully controlled any interaction with immigrant communities since.

In a book published during his presidential campaign, Mr. Sarkozy himself wrote of his temper, pledging that he was “trying to improve with age.”

“Experience has taught me not to overreact,” he said.

Widely expected to run for a second term next May, Mr. Sarkozy has increased the number of visits of provincial towns like Brax in recent weeks. His approval ratings continue to hover near record lows.

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