Following his election victory against Marine Le Pen, Emmanuel Macron promised to unite France, but it appears that not all French people are ready to embrace their re-elected president.
On the outskirts of Paris, Macron was attacked by a bunch of cherry tomatoes while on a walkabout in Cergy. Fortunately for Macron, the vegetables fell short of their goal.
According to the video from broadcaster BFM-TV, about six little fruits, some orange and others red, contained in what appeared to be a blue plastic bag, flew over the head of the French leader and bounced off the shoulders and arms of two people alongside him.
Macron appeared unaware of the near-miss until a member of the audience shouted “projectile,” prompting Macron’s bodyguards to raise their arms over his head to shield him.
Macron, ostensibly unharmed and unperturbed, then happily continued his walkabout in Cergy-Pontoise, mingling and talking to people at the market. He told reporters he visited the working-class neighbourhood as part of his previously stated pledge to unite France after the bruising presidential campaign. The 44-year-old centrist comfortably beat far-right rival Marine Le Pen in the election runoff on Sunday.
Someone then shielded him with a black umbrella, and his security detail directed him to take cover under a neighbouring market-stall parasol. For a few seconds, the president took refuge there until things settled down.
Another piece of video, recorded from a different viewpoint, indicated that shortly after the tomatoes were thrown, a bystander climbed onto a table or something else and launched himself backward into the crowd of people around Macron from that height.
As he plummeted through the air, the man appeared to deliver an errant punch. Screams erupted as he hit hard on the crowd and collapsed to the ground.
