Slovak prime minister shot: Live updates

Robert Fico was wounded when an assailant fired multiple shots outside a government meeting

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and wounded on Wednesday when multiple shots were fired at him as he greeted the public after a government meeting.

Fico was taken to hospital by his security detail after the shooting, while his attacker was detained by police.

According to local media reports, four shots were fired at Fico as he shook hands with supporters outside a meeting in Handlova, around 150km east of Bratislava. At least one of the shots struck the prime minister, witnesses reported.

15 May 2024

17:44 GMT

Fico’s security detail was “not in order,” the former head of the Office for the Protection of Constitutional Officials, Juraj Zabojnik, told Dennik N. “When four or five shots are fired, someone is guilty. I didn't see anyone jumping in front of the prime minister,” Zabojnik said.

The security team should have placed operatives among the crowd, he continued, adding that while “it may happen that the first shot gets out,” Fico should have been shielded from any subsequent shots.

“When something like this happens and with such a large body of security personnel, it will be a very tough subject of investigation,” Zabojnik concluded.

17:40 GMT

Fico is still being operated on, Labor Minister Erik Tomas told TV Markiza. The operation will take a long time as several of the prime minister’s organs were damaged, Tomas said.

17:11 GMT

Footage has emerged showing the moment Fico was shot. The video shows the prime minister shaking hands with supporters across a metal barrier, before the gunman fires around five times. As Fico collapses, the attacker is swarmed by security guards and bystanders.

17:01 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he was “indignant” to hear of the “heinous” attempt on Fico’s life. “I know Robert Fico to be a courageous and strong-spirited man. I very much hope that these qualities will help him to withstand this difficult situation,” Putin said in a statement.

16:28 GMT

The Ta3 TV network has named the attacker as Juraj Cintula, born in 1953. Cintula is reportedly a poet and founder of the Slovak Association of Writers, and a supporter of the opposition Progressive Slovakia party.

In a statement, the Slovak Association of Writers said that it would investigate whether Cintula is a member and revoke his membership if so. “We express our indignation at such a brutal act, which has no parallel in the history of Slovakia.”

15:05 GMT

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova has urged the public to refrain from drawing hasty conclusions about the attack on Fico, and to wait for information from the police.

14:56 GMT

Multiple media outlets have identified Fico’s attacker as a 71-year-old man from the town of Levice. According to the Dennik N newspaper, the man shot Fico with a legally owned short weapon.

14:18 GMT

The attempt on Fico’s life is an unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy, President-elect Peter Pellegrini said in a statement. “If we express differing political views with guns in the squares, and not in the polling stations, we threaten everything that we have built together during the 31 years of Slovak sovereignty,” he wrote.

Pellegrini, an ally of Fico, defeated ex-foreign minister Ivan Korcok in a vote last month, and will replace the pro-Western Zuzana Caputova as head of state in June.

14:08 GMT

Fico was hit “multiple times” and his condition is “life-threatening,” the prime minister’s office announced on Facebook. He is currently being airlifted from Handlova to a hospital in Banska Bystrica as flying him to Bratislava would take too long, Fico’s office added. “The next few hours will decide” whether he survives, the statement concluded.

14:00 GMT

Footage shared on social media showed a stricken Fico being helped to his car by his security detail. The politician was bundled into the back of the vehicle and rushed away, while police officers handcuffed his suspected attacker. The suspect appears to have shot Fico from point-blank range.

https://www.rt.com/news/597641-slovakia-prime-minister-shot-updates/

VIDEO: “I 100% Believe” He Will Stand With The Establishment – RINO NV Senate Candidate Sam Brown’s Campaign Staffers Expose His Anti-Trump Agenda in Undercover Recording

Video recordings provided exclusively to The Gateway Pundit by an undercover journalist show Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown’s staffers revealing a hidden agenda to appeal to the RINO Establishment if he is sent to Washington, D.C.

RINO Sam Brown and America First Nevada Senate candidate Dr. Jeff Gunter are currently vying for President Trump’s endorsement and a win in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate in Nevada.

In an undercover interview, Nevada political consultant Woodrow Johnston noted that Trump’s endorsement “is so powerful if he endorses someone they’ll win the primary.”

The Gateway Pundit published an interview with Jeff Gunter, a real Trump supporter and Trump’s former ambassador to Iceland, earlier this year. We also reported that Sam Brown is financially backed by Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-backed group that staunchly supported Nikki Haley since last November; long-time Mitch McConnell donor Gregory Ciongoli; Thomas McInerney, a John Bolton megadonor who also backed DeSantis for President; and several other never-Trump donors.

“He’s a hardcore RINO, a Mitch McConnell guy, loves Nikki Haley and is funded by the same people,” said Gunter.

In the interviews below, taken at the 2024 Nevada GOP Convention, Sam Brown Field Director Nikolas Madison confirms that Brown will "absolutely" stand "with the Establishment." When asked if he'd do that, Madison responded, "I 100% believe so." He also agreed that members of Congress need to vote against Trump and thinks Sam Brown "is capable of recognizing the situation."

The Gateway Pundit contacted Nikolas Madison, but he did not immediately provide comment.

Barge Collides with Galveston Bridge, Causing Partial Collapse and Oil Spill

A barge collided with the Pelican Island Bridge in Galveston, Texas on Wednesday morning.

The collision resulted in a partial collapse and oil spill.

No injuries have been reported so far.

It is unclear what caused the collision.

https://youtu.be/rYW3Yjvi-lg

EU state’s leader calls for end to Ukraine conflict

It is naive to think that Kiev can recapture all the territories it claims as its own from Russia, Czech President Petr Pavel says

In an interview with Sky News on Tuesday, Pavel, who previously served as the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee and the chief of the Czech Republic’s General Staff, expressed doubt that Ukraine can achieve a clear victory over Russia.

“We have to be realistic. It would be naive to say that Ukraine can fully restore the control over the territories in the foreseeable future. Russia will not give up the territory it is occupying now,” he said, referring to four former Ukrainian territories that voted to join Russia in autumn 2022, as well as Crimea, which did so several years earlier.

Pavel stressed that “we need to stop the war and then start negotiations about [a] future arrangement.” He suggested that “there might be some kind of a compromise,” but cautioned that it would be unattainable without the participation of Ukraine, Russia, and other countries that could act as guarantors of the agreement.

https://www.rt.com/news/597642-pavel-czech-ukraine-conflict-end/

Peru’s Government Officially Classifies Trans, Nonbinary, and Intersex as ‘Mentally Ill’ People

The Peruvian government has taken a firm stand on the issue of gender identity. A new decree, signed by President Dina Boluarte, has officially classified transsexualism, nonbinary, and intersex conditions as “mental illnesses.”

Supreme Decree No. 009-2024-SA specifies “transsexualism” and “gender identity disorder in children” as mental health conditions, The Telegraph reported.

It further includes “dual-role transvestism, fetishist transvestism, egodystonic sexual orientation, and other gender identity disorders” in the same category. This groundbreaking decision by the Peruvian health ministry is seen by many as a bold affirmation of biological truths and a commitment to providing appropriate mental health care.

In defense of this action, the ministry asserts that this classification will “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/perus-government-officially-classifies-trans-nonbinary-intersex-as/

Michael Cohen’s Attorney Robert Costello Testifies that Cohen Didn’t Believe Stormy Daniels’ Story – Only Paid Her to Save Trump

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL): He didn’t believe the allegation of the Stormy Daniels story, that he thought the story would be embarrassing for Trump and especially for Melania, so he decided he would take care of it himself.

Attorney Robert Costello: Absolutely. That is contrary to what this guy testified to in court in New York yesterday.

Rep. Greg Steube: Well, what’s not being talked about is your next paragraph, the reason and his motivation for that. So if you could just walk through that for the committee.

Robert Costello: Yeah, obviously, when we started to talk about the NDAs, and this is the very first meeting at the Regency Hotel, when, by the way, Rudy Giuliani was not involved in representing Donald Trump at that time. Cohn testified that it was a conspiracy between Giuliani and Costello as of this date. Totally false. In any event, he also said that he didn’t discuss the Stormy Daniels matter with us, and he certainly did. I specifically asked him because he kept on going back saying, I can’t believe they’re trying to put me in jail for these NDAs.

So I said, Michael, tell me about the NDA. Tell me about Stormy Daniels. What did you do? He said, I got a call from a lawyer representing Stormy Daniels who represented that she was going to testify that Donald Trump had sex with Stormy Daniels. Michael Cohen said, I didn’t believe the allegation, but I knew that such an allegation would be terribly embarrassing. He said, It would be embarrassing. He focused on Melania Trump. He said, I didn’t want to embarrass Melania Trump. He said, That’s I decided to take care of this on my own. I went back to that several times.

You did this on your own? “On my own.”

Did Donald Trump have anything to do with it? “No.”

Did you get the money from Donald Trump? “No.”

From any of his organizations? “No.”

From anybody connected to Donald Trump? “No”.

Where did you get the money? “I took out a HELOC loan against my property.”

I said, Why would you do that? He said, “I didn’t want anybody to know where I got this money.”

I didn’t want Melania to know. I didn’t want my own wife to know because she’s in charge, he said, of the Cohen family finances. He said, “If she saw money coming out of my account, she’d ask me 100 questions, and I didn’t want to answer any of them.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/bombshell-michael-cohens-attorney-robert-costello-testifies-that/

RFK Jr. Cries 'Collusion' After Biden And Trump Ditch Him For Debate

Update (1252ET): With recent analysis from both Goldman and TS Lombard suggesting that 3rd party candidates could have a huge impact on the 2024 election, wildcard candidate RFK Jr. has accused Trump and Biden of 'colluding to lock American into a head-to-head match-up that 70% say they do not want.'

"They are trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win. Keeping viable candidates off the debate stage undermines democracy," he said in a post to X.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/make-my-day-pal-biden-wants-june-september-debates-refuses-debate-commission-dates