Italy’s anti-immigrant former Deputy PM Matteo Salvini is attacked by a Congolese woman who tears his shirt and rips rosary from his neck
- Matteo Salvini was campaigning for his Lega Nord party in Pontassieve, Tuscany
- Woman came out of the crowd and grabbed his by the shirt before ‘cursing him’
- Former Deputy PM lost a button and his rosary in the assault by was unharmed
Far-right Italian leader Matteo Salvini was left shaken and ‘cursed’ after a scuffle with a young woman while campaigning in Tuscany ahead of regional elections.
The incident happened in Pontassieve just outside Florence, as Salvini arrived ahead of campaigning for his anti-immigrant League party.
Video footage shows a woman in the crowd grabbing hold of the former Deputy PM, tearing his shirt and ripping two rosaries from his neck.
Far-right Italian leader Matteo Salvini was left shaken and ‘cursed’ after a scuffle with a young woman while campaigning in Pontassieve, Tuscany ahead of regional elections
The assailant, said to be a 29-year-old from the Congo, then shouts ‘I curse you’ in Italian before she was quickly removed by police who later told the Italian ANSA news agency she was in a ‘disturbed state’.
Local police said she had been cautioned and was not arrested as her actions did not appear to have been premeditated as she had just happened to find herself alongside Salvini while returning home from work.
Salvini, head of the League party who promotes policies aimed at preventing migrants from entering Italy, showed his torn shirt and damaged rosaries in a Facebook post.
Video footage shows a woman in the crowd grabbing hold of the former Deputy PM, tearing his shirt and ripping two rosaries from his neck. Local police then quickly remove her
‘She came towards me (and said) “Damn you”. She ripped my shirt. You can buy shirts. What upset me is that she pulled off and basically broke two rosaries that I wore, hidden, around my neck,’ he said.
‘I respond to this anger with a smile and with work. Long live the Italy of women and men who believe in freedom, serenity and work,’ he said in a subsequent statement.
Salvini served as interior minister for a year up until August 2019, during which time he focused much energy on preventing migrant boats from reaching Italy.
‘Everybody may have different political, football or religious ideas but not violence,’ he told ANSA after the incident.
Salvini, head of the League party who promotes policies aimed at preventing migrants from entering Italy, showed his torn shirt and damaged rosaries in a Facebook post
Salvini served as interior minister for a year up until August 2019, during which time he focused much energy on preventing migrant boats from reaching Italy
He is due to go on trial next month over accusations that he illegally detained migrants at sea while waiting for other EU states to agree to take them in. He denies the charge.
Tuscany is one of seven Italian regions going to the polls to elect new governors and governments on September 20 and 21.
The region, known for its scenic rolling hills and Chianti wine has for decades been considered a bastion of the left.
Salvini’s League party however is trying to take over the region with candidates neck-and-neck in the latest polls.