Three men were arrested after protesters threw objects at former President Joe Biden outside a Dublin university, Irish police said Wednesday.
Videos showed protesters, some waving Palestinian flags, chanting “Blood on your hands” and brawling with police outside Trinity College Dublin on Tuesday, as he attended a ceremony honoring his son Hunter Biden, alongside former first lady Jill Biden. A white liquid, presumably milk, could also be seen flying through the air towards the group.
Hunter Biden was honored by his traditional debate society Hist, which dates back to 1770. Previous recipients of the Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse include Irish musician Bob Geldof, South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the late Senator Ted Kennedy.
During his acceptance speech, Hunter Biden opened up about his addictions, his family life and being in the public eye. “We live in an age of tyrants,” he said, adding that he learned this from “my own scars.”
Shortly after the ceremony, a “protest took place on Trinity’s Front Square,” Catherine O’Mahony, a spokesperson for the college, said in a statement to NBC News on Wednesday.
She said “the protest intensified as the Bidens left” and Irish police, known as Gardaí, arrived at the scene. “The Biden family left without incident. The protest dispersed shortly afterward,” she added.
Police said in a statement on Wednesday that three adult men had been arrested “in connection with a public order incident” at Trinity College Dublin. A man in his 50s “has since been charged and is due to appear in court. The other two men have been released without charge.” The press release does not specify what the man is accused of.
Representatives for the elder Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.
Ireland has long maintained historic solidarity with the Palestinian cause, with pro-Palestinian flags, murals and graffiti commonplace across the country.
Many people in the country compare the current situation in Gaza and the occupied West Bank with Ireland’s experience of British colonial rule and its struggle for self-determination. Ireland also recently hosted American rapper Macklemore’s sold-out ‘Free Palestine Tour’, which opened in Dublin last month.
The Bidens, of Irish origin, also met with Irish Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, Michael Martin.
“We reflected on his strong Irish roots and previous visits, appreciating his lifelong support of Ireland,” Martin said in an article on X, about his meeting with the former president.
During a 2023 visit to the country while president, Biden told the Irish parliament in an emotional speech that he was “home.”
Biden’s great-great-grandfather, Owen Finnegan, moved to the United States from Ireland’s County Louth in 1849, and he also has relatives on another side of his family in County Mayo, on Ireland’s west coast.
Earlier this week, Biden, 83, signaled he was cutting back on public tours to promote his upcoming memoir “Promise Me, America” as he continues his cancer treatment.
“Some days are better than others,” Biden wrote Sunday in a lengthy post on X. “That hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down.”
Biden announced that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer months after leaving office in January 2025 and has since undergone courses of radiation and hormone treatment.
He said his doctors were “encouraged by the way I responded to treatment” and thanked the public for their prayers and well wishes.
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