A woman threw a shoe at Hillary Clinton while she stood onstage delivering a speech in Las Vegas on Thursday.
The former Secretary of State dodged the shoe, and continued with her remarks, U.S. Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said.
According to Ogilvie, the protester was not a ticketed guest in attendance for Clinton’s speech at the Mandalay Bay hotel.
“As agents and hotel security approached her she threw a shoe and was immediately taken into custody by the Secret Service and hotel security,” Ogilvie said.
The woman approached the stage in a cocktail dress and threw a shoe, which was wrapped in paper.
According to footage of the incident, Clinton, 66, crouched down to avoid the shoe. She paused and joked about the incident.
“Is that a bat?” Clinton asked.
“Is that somebody throwing something at me?” she asked.
“Is that part of Cirque du Soleil?” she continued.
“My goodness, I didn’t know that solid waste management was so controversial. Thank goodness she didn’t play softball like I did,” Clinton said.
Clinton then continued with her speech at the metal recycling convention to about 1,000 people who were in attendance.
Mark Carpenter, a spokesman for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, which hosted the speech, said that the woman was not affiliated with the event.
“Our staff denied her access before she later rushed past security. An ISRI staffer then stopped her as she approached the stage. She was then handed over to law enforcement,” Carpenter said.
Brian Spellacy, U.S. Secret Service supervisory special agent in Las Vegas, said the woman was being questioned and would face criminal charges. Spellacy declined to identify the woman. He also said it was not immediately clear what the charges would be.
A black and orange shoe was recovered from the stage, Spellacy said.
Image via Wikimedia Commons