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Political Assassination Prevented In Rome As Unemployed Man Tries To "Shoot Politicians"
While suicides out of desperation had long been a tragic, if recurring, staple in depressionary Europe, so far popular anger had been directed at within, with few if any murderous outbursts targeted at other people, and certainly not at politicians (or financiers). This obviously has been a critical aspect of the current economic collapse in Europe - one needs but recall that it was a political assassination that sparked World War I in Sarajevo, and indirectly, via the Weimar collapse of Germany, set the stage for World War II, leading to the death of tens of millions around the globe. Today we came close. As the AP reports, during today's swearing in ceremony of Italy's new pseudo-technocrat yet anti-austerity government which has the blessings of Berlusconi, an "unemployed Italian gunman shot and seriously wounded two policemen Sunday in a square outside the premier's office in Rome, but he "wanted to shoot politicians," Rome prosecutor Pierfilippo Laviani said.
"Shots rang out in Chigi Square near a busy shopping and strolling area shortly after 11:30 a.m. just as Italy's new government -- Premier Enrico Letta and his new ministers -- were taking their oaths at the Quirinal presidential office, about a half-mile away. The suspected gunman, dressed in a dark business suit, was immediately grabbed by other police in the square, wrestled to the ground and taken away. Laviani, who later questioned the alleged assailant, said the man "wanted to shoot politicians, but given that he couldn't reach any, he shot the Carabinieri" police. Laviani added that the man "confessed everything," but didn't appear mentally unbalanced."
From AP:
The shooting "was the tragic gesture of an unemployed man," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano also told reporters after briefing Letta and his new Cabinet about the attack.
...
Alfano said the alleged gunman -- 49-year-old Luigi Preiti -- wanted to kill himself after the shooting but ran out of bullets. He said six shots were fired.
Italian media reports said the assailant was from southern Calabria and had lived for several years in northern Italy before moving back to Calabria after his marriage fell apart.
Sky TG24 TV quoted the man's brother as saying the alleged attacker had lost his job in a construction firm and was upset over marital problems.
This time only innocent policemen were shot. What about next time? Surely the socio-economic situation of the assailant is not in any way unique in Italy or any other depressionary European countries, of which there are many. And it doesn't take much for any one person, hope crushed and money gone, to go so far beyond the metaphorical ledge, that they are willing to die but not before taking some politicians with them.
More :
A woman passing by during the shooting was also slightly injured, Rome's mayor said. It was unclear if she was grazed by a bullet or hurt in the panic sparked by the gunfire.
It was not immediately clear if the shooting outside the Chigi Palace, which houses the premier's office and other government offices, was timed to coincide with the swearing-in ceremony. But tensions have been running high in Italy following inconclusive elections in February that left the country mired in political deadlock amid a deep recession.
The 46-year-old Letta nailed down a coalition deal only a day ago between two bitter political enemies -- his center-left forces and the conservative bloc of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
Reporters inside the Chigi Palace press office heard the shots and raced outside. An AP television producer saw the two wounded Carabinieri officers in the square outside the palace. One of them lay on the pavement with blood pouring out of his neck.
...
Security was immediately stepped up near key venues in the Italian capital, but Alfano said authorities were not worried about related attacks.
"The general situation of public order is not causing any worry," he said. "Our initial investigation indicates the incident is due to an isolated gesture, although further investigations are being carried out."
Doctors at Rome's Umberto I Polyclinic said the more seriously injured of the two police officers was a 50-year-old brigadier. They told reporters that a bullet had entered the right side of the officer's neck, damaged his spinal column and was lodged near his shoulder.
The doctors said it wasn't yet known if the spinal column injury had caused any paralysis.
The other victim was a 30-year-old officer who was shot in the leg and had suffered a fracture, hospital officials said.
Preiti was taken to another Rome hospital. News reports said a protective collar was seen around the man's neck.
An aide to Foreign Minister Emma Bonino told reporters at the presidential palace that the new Cabinet members were kept briefly inside for security reasons until it was clear there was no immediate danger.
The new Cabinet ministers were seen smiling in a group photo as news of the shooting broke and it was apparent they weren't immediately aware of the attack.
"The news arrived after the swearing-in," said Dario Franceschini, one of the new ministers. `'Premier Letta is following the situation."
Metal fencing closes off Chigi Square, which flanks Via del Corso, one of Rome's most popular streets with strollers. The public can cross the square by showing identification, and sometimes people can cross it without being stopped. It was unclear if the assailant had asked permission to enter the square.
Rome was jammed Sunday with tourists and residents enjoying a warm sunny morning on the last day of a four-day weekend.
All of this goes back to the bigger picture: for now the myth of the solvent welfare state, both in Europe and the US, has been successful at keeping the broader population within acceptable limits of docility, with only occasional bursts of murderous rage, either accompanied by terrorist intentions or not. Yet as every passing day demonstrates to the public that just like the stock market and the global economy, so too the welfare net is one big ponzi which is just as insolvent as every other aspect of the "developed" west, how long before political assassination attempts either in Rome, or everywhere else where a demoralized public just sees no other way out, become the norm?
And how many policemen will be taken down as they protect a regime which has no other mathematical option but to fail?
Finally, as noted earlier, it was a political assassination that set off the WWI dominoes some 100 years ago.
Will this time not be any different either as history once again repeats itself?
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They will make sure that those who are trained and possess firearms are the very last to lose their jobs.
They aren't going to tell you how close he got. It would encourage the others.
To hell with Italy...
I'm getting out the lawnchair and popcorn for the North Korean Running Dog Imperialist Nuclear Armegeddon Fearless Leader Memorial Day Gala.
I'd hate to go without a Sams and some Orville Redenbachers.
The Bulgarians got closer
I doubt the 310 Million + guns in America will misfire or jam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSVVPqO6vpQ
Who told you I had that many. Actually, that number is probably derived like a woman figures her age. You stop counting after 29.
Would anybody have cared if a plotician has been shot? Besides other polticians that is.
Perhaps if only politicians were terrorized, the rest of us could live in peace.
"...the alleged gunman -- 49-year-old Luigi Preiti..."
49... the heart fo the ZH demographic.
Really? I have always suspected that it might be closer to half of that figure.
The guy should just get a fine of 1% of his income.
hell, he should get paid a bounty.
Who is the idiot with his finger on the trigger??
BernanQE.
italy has comprehensive gun control.
http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/italy
This is why gun control doesn't bother me. When we need one, we'll get one.
And ammo?
"Homegrown terrorism"
Unfortuntely, this only means a harder crack down and further feelings of despair by the general population.
Laviani, who later questioned the alleged assailant, said the man "wanted to shoot politicians, but given that he couldn't reach any, he shot the Carabinieri" police.
That makes no sense. Why would you settle for the thugs when you've decided to go after the big boss(es)? It's not that hard to find the time and place to kill whoever it is that you wish to kill, if you take the time and formulate a plan. Look to the north for inspiration, Anders Breivik of Norway pulled off a massacre straight out of SpecOps and he (supposedly) acted alone.
was the weapon shown a beretta tomcat?
How considerate of him to eject the magazine and place it so neatly, so the Carabinierri wouldn't have to tamper with the evidence. /s
He pre-pressed his own finger prints too and came with a mug shot for expediency.
Outkast: Bombs Over Baghdad
Don't pull that thing out, unless you plan to bang.
Don't even bang unless you plan to hit something.
Interesting how the new officials swear allegiance to the president, and not the people of or the country in which they "serve". How very...Italian.
The Mob would've done the Job properly, if they weren't already on Retainer by their cousins: the Banksters. /s
This is why Obama had the marines' stocks removed during his coronation in Jan. A lot of vets are pissed, more than just some out of work businessman.
Good idea. Needs work on execution.
finally.
let's hope the movment grows.
Clearly a vast improvement over setting oneself on fire.
In other news, Julius Caesar was assassinated next to the Theatre of Pompey
"I love Rome .... the way the afternoon sun .... falls on an attempted assignation of Euro bonds !"
In American baseball, batting 1 for 3 over a career gets you in the Hall of Fame.
3 for 3 get's you life without parole !
Agreed, "Needs work on execution." Man, you don't go running up with a pistol - that's for stupid, amateurs with no imagination. You need one of these, folks:
http://www.barrett.net/firearms/model82a1
Upon closer inspection, the shooter appears to be a dead ringer for Mr. Bean
Modern humans need to get much better at self-defense.
Italy is lucky it was just one. In Libya, a couple dozen loaded pick-up trucks are pointing at the foreign ministry demanding "change." Whoa.
(Quote)
Gunmen have surrounded Libya's foreign ministry in the capital Tripoli to push demands that officials who had worked for deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi's government be banned from senior positions in the new administration.
At least 20 pick-up trucks loaded with anti-aircraft guns blocked the roads on Sunday, while men armed with AK-47s and sniper rifles directed the traffic away from the building, witnesses said.
(Unquote)
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/04/2013428102159904364.html
It's inaccurate to say the police are innocent. They are the direct hand of force the politicians lays on the public. If they stay in their job they support the state and its policies.
WWI was staged to happen for already a number of years. The assassination of FF was just an excuse to start the war, just as the fabricated incursion of the Polish into German territory was used to start WWII.
can't someone out there get LUCKY for once?
"Laviani, who later questioned the alleged assailant, said the man "wanted to shoot politicians, but given that he couldn't reach any, he shot the Carabinieri" police."
Now there is someone I can admire.
Like in Mexico. Strange socialist-neutered people, but when the pols and crats use their gun and badge thugs (GBTs) to threaten their businesses, the Mexicans send many of them, pols, crats and GBTs, to the graveyard, just like they should.
"If one commands respect while wielding a gun, then only the gun is respected." hujel
An Obamaphone could have increased his self esteem and prevented this. Or at least he could have called for help.
I see he was a tragically unemployed man who wanted to kill the makers of the policies under which his dreams were crushed. When that happens here he's a demented lone wolf maniac, acting out spontaneously for no apparent reason.
Brought to you by Carl's Jr.
If and when this scene plays out in America, banksters, politicians, and their paid lackeys had better learn the low crawl right quick.
Some one always wants to shoot politicians, but it is not a serious matter until the someones are policemen.