Former US President Joe Biden has been pelted with objects outside a university in Ireland in an incident in which three men were arrested.
Video footage published by NBC below showed some of the protesters clashing with Irish police officers outside Trinity College Dublin during a the ex-President’s surprise visit alongside wife and former first lady Jill Biden to attend a ceremony honouring their son Hunter.
Some of the protesters chanted “blood on your hands”, while others waved Palestinian flags. The US network also reported that white liquid, most likely milk, was also hurled at the former commander and chief and his wife’s entourage.
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The younger Biden was being honoured with the Hist debating Society’s Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse, ranking him alongside previous recipients Bob Geldof and controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
According to NBC, Hunter appeared to reference his recent controversies in an acceptance speech in which he told the crowd that they were all “living in an age of bullies”, something which he had learned through “my own scars”.
A spokesperson for the college Catherine O’Mahony confirmed that a protest ensued after the ceremony in the university’s front square and that it “escalated while the Bidens were leaving”.
“The Biden family left without incident. The protest dispersed soon after,” she said.
The Gardai, or Irish police, confirmed in a statement Wednesday that officers attended the scene and that three men were arrested “in relation to a public order incident” and that one had been charged and was due to appear in court.
The other two men had been released without charge.
Ireland’s sense of solidarity with the pro-Palestinian movement has been long established with a number of activitsts drawing parallels between the current situation in Gaza and the West Bank with Irish Republicans’ fight for self determination while it was under British colonial rule.
The former President and first lady also took the opportunity to visit with Ireland’s current leader, or Taoiseach, Micheal Martin.
Former US President Joe Biden and wife Jill meet Ireland’s Taoiseach, or prime minister, MicheÃ(degrees)l Martin. Credit: supplied/Facebook/Micheal Martin
Biden, who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, announced on Monday that he would be scaling back public events for his upcoming book tour as a result of his treatment.
While his memoir about his time in office titled Promise Me, America, is due out in a week, he said on X that his battle with the disease “hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down.”
“What that means is, unfortunately, I won’t be able to do as many conversations about my book as I’d hoped. However, I’m hopeful the words on the page speak for themselves.”
