Despite all the heavy Secret Service and Swiss Guard security around him, Pope Francis came close to getting a shoe hurled at him as he headed to the floor of the US Congress.
‹As CNN’s cameras awaited the pope’s entry, a woman in the crowd, with a noticeable Southern accent, could be heard ‹saying that she planned to “take my shoe off and throw it at his head.”
The words were uttered just as Pope Francis‹‹ was being led onto the House floor for his historic speech.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was anchoring coverage and told viewers he would go silent to capture the natural sounds of Pope Francis’ introduction. That’s when the woman spoke about shoe throwing, with no clue that CNN viewers were listening.
It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone on Pope Francis’ security team heard the remark. Francis came and went
The threat of shoe throwing evoked memories of President George W. Bush, who skillfully dodged shoes at a Dec. 14, 2008, press conference in Baghdad.
The shoe toss was considered an extreme act of disrespect.
•Sourced from New York Post. Photo by AP shows Pope Francis addressing a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill on Sept. 24.
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