FBI: Grenade at Bush Rally Was Live

FBI: Grenade at Bush Rally Was Live (AP)

The FBI on Wednesday said a grenade found amid the crowd during last week’s speech by President Bush in this former Soviet republic was capable of exploding. The statement by agent Brian Parmen contradicted initial reports by Georgian officials that the grenade either was not in condition to explode or that it was a so-called “engineering grenade” that wouldn’t be fatal except at extremely close range. Parmen also said the grenade had been thrown and fell on a girl in the crowd. That also was odds with statements by Georgian officials, who said it was not thrown.

Bush spoke to tens of thousands of people in Freedom Square, a main plaza in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, on May 10. The crowd response was overwhelming favorable and Bush spoke in strong support of Georgia’s efforts at democratic development following the Rose Revolution of 2003.

No arrests have been made in the case and police have appealed to the public to offer photos and videotapes that may contain information on the perpetrator.

Not good.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Ken says:

    This is why bush never allows average Americans into his events here at home. He knows that an American grenade thrower wouldn’t have missed.

  2. Anderson says:

    I’m grateful Bush got out of Georgia alive; one suspects that if the Chechen rebels had wanted Bush dead, they’d have got him. Perhaps they’re sane enough to realize what that would bring down on their heads. It helps when, unlike Osama, you have a homeland you care about protecting.

  3. LJD says:

    “Average Americans”, like Ken. LOL

  4. McGehee says:

    Ken’s been throwing grenades around here for years and hasn’t hit his target yet.

    Blown himself up more often than not.

  5. Jack Tanner says:

    Who was the last GOP president NOT to have had an actual attempt made on their life?