Gennaro Rubino - Assassination Attempt

Assassination Attempt

In late October, 1902, Rubino relocated to Brussels. On the morning of November 15, 1902, King Leopold was returning from a ceremony in memory of his recently-deceased wife, Marie Henriette. Rubino took a revolver and waited for the King's procession among a crowd on Rue Royale in front of the Bank of Brussels. After Leopold's carriage passed, Rubino drew his gun and fired three shots at the King. All three shots missed, although one smashed the window of a carriage following Leopold's.

Rubino was immediately mauled by the crowd and then rescued by police and put in a cab. The infuriated crowd surrounded it and attacked the vehicle with knives and sticks. The police had great difficulty in forcing their way through the crowd, which shouted alternately, "Kill him!" and "Long live the King!"

At the police station Rubino was searched and found to be carrying a package of ball cartridges and picture postcards bearing portraits of King Leopold, Prince Albert, and Princess Elisabeth. Rubino said he procured the cards so he would be able to recognize the members of the royal family. He also said he did not regret his act and would have fired "at the King of Italy as readily as at the King of Belgium, because monarchs are tyrants who cause the misery of their peoples." He also asserted that he had no accomplices, although several people who were near Rubino when he fired the revolver asserted that he was accompanied by another man who escaped among the crowd.

Following the attempted assassination, anarchists further condemned Rubino as an agent provocateur, with some even speculating that the entire event was staged in order to justify subsequent police crackdowns against European anarchists. This speculation was fueled by early reports that the unfired cartridges left in Rubino's revolver were blanks. This was contradicted by later reports that Rubino's revolver was never found by the police.