Police are investigating after an apparent death threat was daubed onto the wall of a Turin railway station during an hours-long occupation of the interchange by anti-Israel activists, the latest manifestation in a days-long action by Antifa and other left-wing groups in support of Palestine.
The Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni said she was honoured to be compared with assassinated political activist Charlie Kirk after Palestine protesters wrote “Meloni: Come Kirk” [‘Meloni: Like Kirk’] on the wall of Torino Porta Susa station in Turin.
The threat is particularly insidious given Italy’s long history of political violence including the ‘Years of Lead‘, which has been particularly acute by general European standards over the past half-century, and the recent political assassination of Charlie Kirk in the United States. Police are investigating the signal, reports Corriere Torino.
Meloni herself disregarded the implied threat. She said in response: “They wrote it as a threat. But those who live on hatred and intimidation will never be like Charlie Kirk, because they do not know the value of dialogue, confrontation, and democracy.”
The Prime Minister said she felt “pride” in being compared to Kirk and said those who promised violence “will always remain prisoners of violence. We will continue to walk free, strong in our ideas.”
Regional politicians in the Turin area decried the threat. Alberto Cirio, President of the Italian state of Piedmont of which Turin is the largest city, said: “The blockades in Turin , the damage, and the threats against Prime Minister Meloni, to whom I extend my full solidarity, are unacceptable. Everyone is free to peacefully express their opinions, but this can never go beyond respect for the rules and the law.”
His deputy, the Vice President of Piedmont said the threats were cowardly and an affront to the whole Italian political system. She said: “Calling for the death of a political opponent is not dissent: it is barbaric. And it is an insult to millions of citizens who believe in freedom and the strength of democracy. Anyone who thinks they can affirm an idea through hatred has already condemned it to defeat.”
The scrawled message came during an occupation of the Turin station by protesters attempting to shut down the city. Hard-left activists had declared a “general strike” in Italy on Monday in protest against the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni refusing to join with other nations like the United Kingdom and France in recognising a Palestinian state.
As earlier reported, over 60 police officers were injured in the first day of the protests in Milan, as Antifa radicals stormed city rail station and smashing them up, deliberately attacked police, and rioted. Songs of “it will be Intifada here too” were heard in the city. A regional politician said “troublemakers” were hijacking public sympathy for people in Gaza to “commit the usual acts of pure and simple violence.”
Days later, it was Turin’s turn to feel this ‘general strike’ called by the left. Platforms of the Porta Susa were blocked to prevent trains entering the station which caused “significant disruption”.
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