Here in the U.S., we freak out — a.k.a. tweet snarky comments — when our politicians misspeak ever so slightly. Imagine what our reaction would be to a man jumping on stage while President Obama was giving a speech on TV, and tried to kill him right then and there with a gun. Such was the scene in Bulgaria earlier today.
A man leapt on stage and put a gun to the head of the leader of Bulgaria’s ethnic Turkish party before security guards wrestled him to the ground during a televised conference on Saturday…Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) escaped unscathed, and it was not immediately clear why the attacker targeted him at the party congress in central Sofia.
Television footage showed the man jumping out of the audience brandishing the gun which he pointed at Dogan’s head. Security guards pulled him to the ground and he was repeatedly beaten and kicked by conference delegates. Police said they arrested the attacker, a 25-year-old from the Black Sea town of Burgas, who was also carrying two knives.
Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the attacker tried to fire two shots but “the gun misfired.” (Via)
Dogan doesn’t immediately react in the most graceful way possible (you wouldn’t either if a guy who looks like a James Bond villain’s henchman appeared out of nowhere with a gun), but he recovers quickly, and after a split second spent staring down the would-be assassin, Dogan tries to slap the man’s gun away, before security swarms the stage. And kicks the crap out of Andrei Konstantin (that’s what I’ve named him). But we all know the real reason why the gun misfired: Andrei forgot his catchphrase, “Hope you like the Whack Sea.” No quip, no dice.
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Two things.
1. The assassin wasted his “Shield Of Rubber” spell. The tackling delegate bounced a solid 10 yards.
2. Bonus points to the crowd of a political rally “Booing” the assassin. I half expected them to chant Можете прецака нагоре
And here I was thinking that a man with 2 knives would be happy.
Made my day.
I like the old man storming in late with the baton like a cop from Arrested Development.
LOL inappropriate laughter.
There’s something about a group of politicians in business suits putting the boots to a guy medium-style that makes me giggle uncontrollably.
I’m so sick of all the Bulgaria news on Uproxx, time to retire that tag.
Wow we narrowly avoided World War One today.
Thanks for the long philosophical debate on whether they were right in kicking the assassin or not that I just spend around 40 mins carrying on
of course they were right.
I don’t want this stupid assassin happen to US president and to France president. Thank you for Bulgarian politician, you are the lucky one on earth.
Is yes.
“Is yes.”
Floor’d.
Lol that wasn’t really an actual attempt at an assasination. It was pretty much a PR stunt that this scumbag Dogan(the man makes Berlusconi and Putin together seem like honest politicians) made. I mean seriously look at the video. He is not even trying. Not to mention that this wasn’t even a real gun
Can you explain that “not a real gun” part?
It was a gas pistol with pepper ammunition inside
Dude that is straight bullshit.
Yeah exactly. The whole thing is so fake it’s beyond silly.
I couldn’t find any articles which back up @Klntof1′s claim it was PR stunt, but the assassin does seem like the worst assign ever. he runs up on stage to where he is has a can’t miss shoot at Dogan’s head, and then he just stands there, and doesn’t even fight back when Dogan tries to judo chop the gun out of his hand.
The people who went after Reagan, McKinley, and RFK did pretty much the same same thing if I’m not mistaken, not to mention John Wilkes Booth (who did escape for a while).
@JTRO? The folks who went after Reagan, McKinley RFK and Lincoln all ran up to them and then stood there without firing?
My issue isn’t the close range, it is that the assassin stands around without shooting.
Contrary to our pop culture obsessed sensibilities, assassinations are not as stylish in real life.
@Lewisbojangles, but they still normally involve firing bullets at people right? Not just standing around holding a gun looking bored?
Missed this part huh?
“Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the attacker tried to fire two shots but “the gun misfired.”
Thank @JTRO, i did miss that part of the description, but I still don’t see where that happens in the video (though I’m no expert at guns, I expected to see he hand moving to fire)
Watch right when he points the gun. You can see his hand flinching, as if trying to fire the gun. I think his lack of reaction afterwards is the result of his mind going “oh crap, it didn’t work”
Thanks Thornus, I can see the part with he flinches. Thanks for explaining that to me.
Also you can see him try to clear the malfunctioning gun at least two times after it doesn’t go off.
I found several articles that back up Kintof1′s theory… Seems it was a pepper gun, and they are looking at charging the people who kicked the ‘would-be-assasin’
On second look, there are a few but none totally convince me that they are very credible…
The fact that it was a pepper gun and had only three rounds is indisputable. The Minister confirmed it himself. Now whether all this was theatrics ordered by Dogan himself is another matter but it’s very likely. Dogan is basically the Bulgarian version of Berlusconi but even more sleazy ,corrupt and lazy and considering the support he was losing in his party….it’s rather very propable
Yeah this whole thing is really hard to find correct information on. It is quite an interesting story though, I”m suprised its not getting covered more (or at least covered more in the English Language press).
This newspaper in Sydney, Australia confirms that the police said it was only a pepper gun: [www.smh.com.au]
Article also states the brother of the guy on stage with the pepper spray gun was on the Bulgarian version of “Dancing with the Stars” in 2007. This story just keeps getting weirder.
I promise this is my last post about this, but apparently not only was it a pepper gun, it was empty: (hense why it miss-fired.) It didn’t have any pepper in it to fire. [www.novinite.com]
so yeah either a publicity stunt or the worst assassin in the history of time.
i’m just mad that 1 nobody was yelling WORLDSTAR
and at 0.36 he yells out YOLO!!!
apparently thats the motto
That assassin looks exactly how you would picture an Eastern European assassin if you were a Hollywood casting agent.
Also, dude, that looks like an old school CZ made to look like a Walther. I Know for a fact those carry at least 6 to 8 shots and you quit after 2? Plus you didn’t check your weapon pre-fight? Worst. Assassin. Ever.
It was a gas pistol armed with pepper rounds. As I said this was all pure theatrics done for the sake of a pr stunt.
Literally NONE of the news sources are carrying that, where are you getting information?
Actually every bulgarian source is carrying this. Even the minister officially came out and said it when he had to clarify on the details. Western media simply don\t care much about follow ups and prefer to go with the sensitional”Oh my god it was an assaination attempt” when in reality it was much much closer to a theatrical show/practical joke when it came to any actual danger
Kintof1 might be right guys, there are a few sources talking about it being a pepper gun…
Google seems to back this theory.
I appreciate the Bulgarian custom of letting everyone get at least one kick before appropriately apprehending suspects.
Those crazy Bulgarians…
0:54 – butt punch.