MILAN (AP) — A court in Rome convicted the leader of a far-right party and six other far-right activists Wednesday for rampaging through the headquarters of Italy’s most powerful labor confederation during an October 2021 protest against COVID-19 certification requirements for workplaces.
Roberto Fiore, leader of the Forza Nuova, or New Force, party, was found guilty of resisting public officials, instigation to delinquency and an aggravated charge of causing devastation. He received a prison sentence of 8½ years.
His convicted co-defendants were sentenced to terms ranging from eight years and two months to eight years and seven months.
All had denied the charges, describing the protest as peaceful and joyful. Prosecutors presented testimony to the contrary from numerous law enforcement officers as well as video evidence.
An Associated Press report at the time said that 10,000 opponents of a government decree requiring vaccine certificates to return to work turned out in Rome’s vast Piazza del Popolo for a demonstration that degenerated into alarming violence.
Incited by members of the extreme right, hundreds of protesters tore through the headquarters of the left-leaning CGIL labor union. Unions had backed the requirement for a vaccine certificate known as a Green Pass as a way to make Italy’s workplaces safer.
The protesters smashed union computers, ripped out phone lines and trashed offices after first trying to use metal bars to batter their way in through CGIL’s front door, then breaking in through a window.
CGIL leader Maurizio Landini immediately drew parallels to attacks a century ago by Benito Mussolini’s newly minted Fascists against labor organizers as he consolidated his dictatorship’s grip on Italy.
To others, the attack evoked images of the siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 that was part of protests over former President Donald Trump’s failed reelection bid. Italian police said officers foiled repeated attempts by the Rome protesters to reach the offices of Italy’s premier and the seat of Parliament.