Extreme-right parties’ violent use of anger about Italy’s coronavirus restrictions has forced authorities to confront the country’s fascist heritage and is fueling fears that there will be another round of mobs trying force their way into Parliament.
Anyone entering Italy’s workplaces must have had at least one dose of vaccines, been treated for COVID-19, or be able to show proof of their vaccination status using the Green Pass. The pass is already used by Italians to access restaurants, theaters, and other indoor entertainment or long-distance trains or domestic flights.
However, 10,000 protestors of the government decree marched in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo on Saturday to protest against it. It was a demonstration that turned into violent violence.
The problems are caused by the mixture and overlap between the extreme right and those who are against Italy’s vaccine mandates. This is despite the fact that those who are opposed to vaccines remain a small minority in a country where at least 80% of all people are fully vaccinated.
On Saturday, thousands marched through Rome in support of the political extreme right. Hundreds also attacked the headquarters for the left-leaning CGIL labor organization. They were repeatedly stopped by police from reaching the offices of the premier of Italy and the seat Parliament.
After first smashing union computers and ripping out phone lines, the protesters then tried to break into offices using metal bars. The Green Pass was supported by unions as a way of making Italy’s workplaces safer.
Maurizio Landini, the leader of the CGIL, immediately drew parallels with attacks made a century ago against labor organizers by Benito Mussolini’s newly minted Fascists. This was as he consolidated control over Italy.
Some people saw the violence unfold and were reminded of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by an angry mob as part of protests against President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful reelection bid.
Ruth Dureghello (president of the Jewish Community of Rome) stated, “What we saw in the last days of our lives was something truly frightening.”
Premier Mario Draghi said to reporters that his government was “reflecting on parliamentary motions lodged by or backed this week by leftist, populist, and centrist parties. These motions urged the government to ban Forza Nuova, an extreme-right party whose leaders supported the attack on the union building office.
Italy’s telecommunications police took down Forza Nuova’s website Monday on orders from Rome prosecutors.
