- Gastón Mercanzini was arrested outside the Cronica TV news outlet in Buenos Aires
- He visited the outlet hoping to land an interview to apologize for throwing a bottle at President Javier Milei on Sunday
- Mercanzini told police he “didn't mean to hurt anyone” as he was handcuffed
A former government employee who threw a glass bottle that nearly hit Argentine President Javier Milei as he rode aboard a convertible en route to the presidential palace has been arrested.
Gastón Mercanzini, 51, was handcuffed outside the offices of news channel Cronica TV in Buenos Aires on Tuesday morning.
Mercanzini, who previously worked for the culture ministry in the central province of Entre Ríos, was remorseful when police took him into custody.
'I ask for forgiveness. I didn't want to hurt anyone,” he told police.
Gastón Mercanzini was arrested outside the Cronica TV offices in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, just two days after he threw a bottle at Argentine President Javier Milei.
Milei greets the crowd from a balcony in Casa Rosada, the presidential palace in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires authorities were looking for Mercanzini after he was seen on surveillance video hurling the container that nearly hit Milei in the head before it struck Deputy Commissioner Guillermo Armentano on Sunday.
Armentano, who is part of the Federal Police presidential custody, was taken to the presidential palace where he received medical treatment for a cut on his left ear.
Mercanzini appeared at Cronica TV's headquarters to apologize for his behavior.
Sources from the Ministry of Security told La Nación newspaper that officers in the area were immediately alerted and went to the Cronica TV building, where they arrested Mercanzini without incident.
“After receiving a call from a journalist from Crónica, we checked the information and clearly sent detectives who joined the city police personnel to prevent the suspect from escaping,” an Argentine Federal Police source told La Nacion.
Mercanzini visited the headquarters of two media outlets to apologize for the bottle-throwing incident before he was arrested Tuesday morning
Milei was waving to supporters when he was nearly struck by a glass bottle that struck one of the law enforcement officers assigned to his security detail.
Before trying to arrange an interview with Cronica TV, Mercanzini had also approached Radio 10's office for a chance to apologize for the bottle-throwing incident.
Mercanzini was also arrested in July after smashing a car door with a metal pipe for attacking a police vehicle. In that case he was arrested on a charge of serious harm.
In August he was arrested for contempt of court and for civil disobedience.
Law enforcement sources told La Nación that Mercanzini could face “attempted manslaughter,” while others believe he could be charged with attempted assault for throwing the bottle at President Milei.
Mercanzini had previously worked as culture minister in Concepción de Uruguay, a municipality in the central province of Entre Ríos, 200 miles north of Buenos Aires.
However, he was removed from his position in 2013 after taking a leave of absence “due to personal problems,” La Nación newspaper reported.
Mercanzini was a follower of the left-wing Peronist movement, based on the ideas of former President Juan Perón, who ruled from 1946 to 1955, when he was overthrown, and again from 1973 until his death in 1974.