Skip to main content

Protester attacks Rupert Murdoch at hearing

By the CNN Wire Staff
Rupert Murdoch was attacked by a man apparently carrying a plate full of light blue shaving foam, but seems to be unhurt.
Rupert Murdoch was attacked by a man apparently carrying a plate full of light blue shaving foam, but seems to be unhurt.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW Police charge 26-year-old with a "public order offense"
  • The protester is identified by the Twitter handle Jonnie Marbles, news agency says
  • Rupert Murdoch is hit with shaving foam during a hearing
  • His wife leaps to her feet and hits the attacker, who is arrested
RELATED TOPICS

London (CNN) -- A man tossed light-blue shaving cream at media magnate Rupert Murdoch during a parliamentary hearing Tuesday.

"You greedy billionaire," the man said, according to the British Press Association, as he hit Murdoch with the foam.

Murdoch appeared stunned but unharmed.

Murdoch's wife, Wendi Deng, who was seated behind him, leapt to her feet and smashed the attacker's hand with her own.

A police officer arrested the protester, identified by the British Press Association as a man known as "Jonnie Marbles" on the social networking service Twitter. CNN wasn't able to independently verify the man's identity.

The 26-year-old man was charged with a "public order offense," Scotland Yard spokesman Alan Crockford said.

"It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before," someone using the account posted before the attack, adding the word "splat" as a hashtag, or a term used to categorize and search for posts on Twitter.

Marbles describes himself on the Twitter page as an "activist, comedian, father figure and all-round nonsense." The site links to a blog called "Anarch*ish*, which says Johnny Marbles is not the man's real name.

The incident forced an abrupt recess in the Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing, called to gather Murdoch's testimony on the phone-hacking scandal involving journalists who worked for the British subsidiary of News Corp., which Murdoch controls.

House of Commons Speaker John Bercow was "very concerned" about the incident, according to a spokeswoman.

"It is wholly unacceptable that a member of the public should treat a witness in this way," the spokeswoman said.

CNN's Jonathan Wald contributed to this report.