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Fight breaks out in Italian Parliament after lawmaker makes move on government official
A fight in the Italian Parliament over the far-right government‘s plans to grant regions more autonomy has triggered an uproar, with some comparing the punch-up to the days of fascism.
The fight broke out Wednesday evening when Five Star Movement deputy Leonardo Donno unfurled an Italian flag in front of regional affairs minister Roberto Calderoli of the pro-autonomy Northern League and closed in on him.
Donno’s stunt was intended to denounce plans to grant more autonomy from Rome to those regions that want it. Critics argue that it undermines Italy’s unity.
Giuseppe Conte via Facebook via Reuters
In response, Calderoli’s fellow League deputies left their benches en masse to mob Donno, and the incident descended into a free-for-all involving some 20 men.
Donno, injured in the scuffles, had to be evacuated in a wheelchair before being sent to a hospital.
The brawl provoked a torrent of reactions from political leaders and made the front pages of the Italian newspapers. Many criticized the example set by the elected representatives.
“The squadrist right is fighting in parliament,” the newspaper La Repubblica lamented, using a term for the post-World War I paramilitary forces that went on to become fascist leader Benito Mussolini’s infamous Blackshirts.
Italy’s leading daily Corriere della Sera said the house had turned into a “boxing ring.”
Giuseppe Conte via Facebook via Reuters
Lawmakers from the League and the Brothers of Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party, accused Donno of provoking the incident and even faking his injuries.
The Five Star Movement denounced a “serious and shameful attack” and called for immediate measures.
“Violence comes from the benches of the Meloni majority … Shame,” its leader, Giuseppe Conte, wrote on social media.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani acknowledged that lawmakers should hold themselves to a higher standard, telling Sky TG24 that politicians “have to set a completely different example.
“The chamber is not a boxing ring … it’s not fisticuffs that solve political problems.”
Critics say that the autonomy proposal will result in public services being cut back in the poorest regions.
The scenes in Parliament are by no means unprecedented.
In 2021, deputies from the Brothers of Italy — which has post-fascist roots — mobbed the center of the chamber to interrupt a debate on the COVID-19 health pass.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.