PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron was hit on the shoulder Monday by an egg thrown at him by a young man during a visit to an international food trade fair in the French city of Lyon.
A video of the incident, widely shared on the social media, shows Macron walking through the crowd when an egg bounces off of him without breaking. Two bodyguards can be seen immediately getting closer to the president and a man was taken away from the scene by other bodyguards.
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Reporters heard Macron saying “If he has something to tell me, then he can come.”
Lyon prosecutors said the 19-year-old student who threw the egg was immediately detained by police. Their statement said an investigation was opened for “assault on a person in a position of public authority" and it will seek to determine the motivations of the man, who was not previously known to the police or justice services.
In June, Macron was slapped in the face by a man as he was greeting the public in a small town in southeastern France. He then denounced “violence” and “stupidity.” The slap prompted a wide show of support for France's head of state from politicians across the ideological spectrum.
Macron, like his predecessors, enjoys spending time meeting with the public. Called “crowd baths” in French, they have long been a staple of French politics.
A little over six months before France’s next presidential election, Macron, 43, has not yet announced his reelection bid but is expected to do so.