A shocking video shows the assassination attempt of Argentina’s vice president. Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner found herself literally staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.
A 35-year-old Brazilian man was arrested after he attempted to shoot Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The assassin failed when his weapon misfired.
The incident happened in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires. Kirchner was surrounded by supporters outside her home when suddenly a man pulled a gun on her.
The video shows Kirchner greeting her supporters when someone points a handgun directly in her face. Kirchner ducks and the weapon appears to misfire before the crowd realizes what is happening.
El video del arma contra @CFKArgentina pic.twitter.com/8j1xpMnPoe
— Lautaro Maislin (@LautaroMaislin) September 2, 2022
A video taken from a different angle shows people in the crowd struggling. This is presumably with the gunman after the weapon failed to fire.
A man tried and failed to shoot Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernandez while she was greeting supporters Thursday. Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez said the man pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire. The suspect was detained seconds after the attempt. pic.twitter.com/LyIOLhJVT4
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) September 2, 2022
Argentinean President Alberto Fernández, no relation to the Vice President, denounced the assassination attempt in a televised speech on Thursday night.
“A man pointed a firearm at her head and pulled the trigger,” Fernández said. He called the crime “the most serious event we have gone through since Argentina returned to democracy” in 1983.
“Cristina remains alive because — for a reason not yet technically confirmed — the gun that had five bullets did not fire despite that the trigger was pulled,” the president said, according to Kawsachun News.
President Alberto Fernández to the nation: "@CFKArgentina remains alive because for a reason not yet technically confirmed, the gun which had five bullets did not fire despite the trigger being pulled." pic.twitter.com/bp61EockbA
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) September 2, 2022
According to ABC News supporters of the Vice President have been gathered outside Kirchner’s home since last week. Last Week a prosecutor said she should be imprisoned for 12 years and barred from holding office because of charges related to a corruption scandal. Kirchner, a left-wing politician who served as Argentina’s president from 2007 to 2015, has denied any and all wrongdoing.
Kirchner was elected vice president on a ticket with Fernández in 2019.