Snopes does a post on Condoleezza Rice - Expensive Shoes Incident

[RobertSeattle]

(This is the quickest I've seen Snopes do a piece like this)

http://www.snopes.com/politics/katrina/rice.asp

Claim: Condoleezza Rice was upbraided by a shopper for buying expensive shoes just after Hurricane Katrina.

Status: Undetermined.

Example:

Is it true that shortly after Hurrican Katrina, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was seen buying thousands of dollars worth of shoes in an upscale Manhattan shoe store; and that the Secretary was accosted by an angry customer for doing so?

Origins: The rumor about Dr. Condoleeza Rice, the U.S. Secretary of State, going on a shoe-shopping spree while on vacation in New York immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast has appeared on some gossip sites and was reported by the New York Daily News:
Yesterday, Rice went shopping at Ferragamo on Fifth Ave. According to the Web site www.Gawker.com, the 50-year-old bought "several thousand dollars' worth of shoes" at the pricey leather-goods boutique.

A fellow shopper shouted, "How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!" — presumably referring to Louisiana and Mississippi.

The woman expressing her First Amendment rights was promptly removed from the store. A Ferragamo store manager confirmed to us that Rice did shop there yesterday, but refused to answer questions about whether the protester was removed, and whether by his own security or the Secret Service.

(More at post)

[librechik]

1. thanks for that, Robert

I couldn't remember where i saw that report

[Eric J in MN]

2. I don't get why it's "Undetermined"

If the Daily News says they called the store to confirm, why isn't that good enough?

[Canuckistanian]

3. Snopes likes to verify every detail of a story

So, if there was no verified "customer", for example, it would remain "undetermined".

But it hasn't been proven false, either.