I had big ranting blog post written but I’ve just read the rest of the story about Lazio fan that was killed yesterday. It was just simply a “tragic accident”. The police officer started by firing a warning shot in the air because fans were starting to fight. A warning shot is allowed according to police procedure. Also according to police procedure he should have put his gun in the holster while running but he didn’t. He started to run to the site of the fight with his gun in hand and his gun went off accidentally. This second shot is what killed the Lazio fan. The fan by the way was inside a car between two other people. It was just incredibly bad luck that the mistakenly fired bullet managed to kill. So the officer is in big trouble because he acted recklessly and well…we'll see. So in the end it was not a case of the police being violent towards fans. So what do all these fans have to say for themselves? Do they still feel their terrorizing of the area around Rome’s stadium was justified yesterday? Do they really believe that they can act as a mob and get revenge by destroying the stadium or police property? This only creates more tension between fans and police and it increases the likelihood that another officer will pull out his gun. In fact it’s more likely that police officer will feel he needs his gun for protection. If history is an indication then only more violence will follow unless they stop the games. Maybe for the rest of the year? I love watching the games but I definitely will not go to a game ever again. I don’t want to get caught up in a melee that could break out anywhere at anytime. Maybe we need the opposite. No police at the stadium and let the fans fight all they want inside and out. Enter at your own risk.
On the lighter side of the news I was only going to blog about a funny article that I saw in the newspaper yesterday. It was titled “Due nonnini a bastonate sventato rapina in banca” that translates to “Two old men with canes thwart bank robbery”. It seems two old men 72 and 75 years old saw a guy in a ski mask coming out of bank. They blocked his escape and beat him with their canes until the robber dropped the money and then managed to escape. So he still got away but without the money. Maybe the banks need to start employing two old guys with canes to be the security guards.
Also for the photo. What is this seed? They arrived in hundreds on a windy Saturday afternoon. The wind calmed down on Sunday so I could go out and sweep them up.
5 comments:
Jeff, honestly, do you think it happened like that? It sounds like they had time to put a "spin" on the story and that then goes into the "who can you fault" category.
Anyway, the damage is done - the protesters don't care anyway. I have to agree, if they had been using rubber bullets, a warning shot or not wouldn't have killed anyone.
The seed you are wondering about is from the Noseeum tree. It's one of the seven mysteries of the world. One can only see the seed of the tree, not the tree itself.
Yes, I wonder if everyone took that story and made it look on purpose when it was an accident, or the other way around. Newspapers love to spice things up, leaves us to do the filtering....
So many sad and tragic stories in the news lately. My husband has a season pass for the Lazio games and he sits in the "curva nord" and says he thinks he recognized the fan that was shot, he might have had the seat near by my husband and his friends.
I have to say though that I don't really feel worried for him going to the games. (faccimao le corna) I think the uprising that took place in the city was an isolated event, in the sense that it also reflects the increasing level of social desperation I've seen growing here over the past year or so. There is a level of anxiety and aggression that I've never seen before, and I have seen a definite increase in senseless violent crimes here lately...I really feel like the social landscape here in Rome is deteriorating. So I wouldn't necessarily fault soccer but rather the overall social climate in general.
Sara/R2R,
Honestly I don't know what happened and I know the "odds are very low" that you could hit someone accidently. Either way that officer has obviously acted carelessly and it's important how they handle him. I really don't think it was a fan issue. It could have been any kind of disturbance. The officer acted improperly in some way and he has a death to account for.
Shelley,
One of the announcers on Controcampo says it's something like the riots we had in LA. Maybe he's right.
My midwestern niavity (spelling?) tells me I would never question the intentions of the police. I assume they are trustful and trying to diffuse a situation. Maybe I need to wake up?
Jeff
Jeff
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