MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Man arrested for throwing bottle at Milei

Milei was unharmed in the incident but a member of his guard was hit by the object

Buenos Aires Federal Judge Ariel Lijo issued a warrant for the arrest of a man suspected of having thrown a bottle at President Javier Milei as his motorcade in a convertible car was heading from Congress to Casa Rosada midway through the inauguration. The object ended up hurting one of the guards, it was reported.

The 51-year old man was identified through video footage of the incident, it was reported. “I spoke with Judge Ariel Lijo, in charge of the case, for a prompt investigation into the aggression suffered yesterday by the President of the Nation that injured Deputy Commissioner Guillermo Armentano, a member of the presidential custody of the Federal Police,” Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said.

Detenido el hombre que intentó atentar contra Javier Milei con una botella de cristal el día de su toma de posesión como presidente de Argentina. pic.twitter.com/p4zBqiyaLZ

— THE OBJECTIVE (@TheObjective_es) December 11, 2023

The presidential motorcade was not stopped by the attack, but rather by Milei's request a few minutes later to come down and caress a dog from the cheering crowd.

The aggressor is a former city council clerk who had recently been imprisoned and has a long record of petty crime. He most recently spent several weeks in jail after being arrested for aggravated vandalism while living as a homeless man on the streets of Buenos Aires, where, according to his version of events, he began banging on the door of a car with an iron bar.

After his arrest, he was forced to wear a tracking anklet and banned from leaving the city of Buenos Aires, which he has not always obeyed. The man who threw the bottle portrays himself on social media as close to Kirchnerism with pictures of Evita and also one with the defeated presidential candidate Sergio Massa.