The Acca Larentia massacre was the journalistic name given to a double homicide that occurred in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 7 January 1978. Five teenagers of the

youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...

of the Italian Social Movement were ambushed while leaving the local party headquarters, and two of the teens (13 years old and 17 years old) were killed. The killings caused riots that same day, in which another MSI sympathiser was killed in clashes with police. The attack was perpetrated by members of militant far-left groups, though the culprits were never identified.

Events

Five members of the Italian Social Movement were fired upon with

automatic weapons An automatic firearm is an auto-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firearm is capable of harvesting the excess energy released from a previous dischar ...

by a group of five or six assailants while they were leaving the local party headquarters in Via Acca Larenzia to distribute pamphlets. Franco Bigonzetti and Francesco Ciavatta were killed, while Vincenzo Segneri, although wounded, managed to return to the party headquarters with Maurizio Lupini and Giuseppe D'Audino, both of whom were unharmed. Riots broke out later on the same day between the police and a crowd of MSI activists that had gathered at the site. Nineteen-year old Stefano Recchioni was fatally injured by a stray bullet and several others, including Youth Front national secretary Gianfranco Fini, were wounded by

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...

canisters.

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

officer Edoardo Sivori was suspected of killing Recchioni but was never charged.

Aftermath

The attack was claimed by a self-described "Armed Nuclei for Territorial Counterpower" ('). Five members of far-left group

Lotta Continua Lotta Continua (LC; en, Continuous Struggle) was a far-left paramilitary organization in Italy. It was founded in autumn 1969 by a split in the student-worker movement of Turin, which had started militant activity at the universities and factor ...

were charged with the murders in 1987 but subsequently acquitted of all charges. A

Škorpion The Škorpion vz. 61 (or Sa vz. 61 Skorpion) is a Czechoslovak machine pistol developed in 1959 by Miroslav Rybář (1924–1970) and produced under the official designation Samopal vzor 61 ("submachine gun model 1961") by the Česká zbrojovka ...

submachine gun, proven by ballistics to having been used in the attack, was found in 1988 in a

Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( it, Brigate Rosse , often abbreviated BR) was a far-left Marxist–Leninist armed organization operating as a terrorist and guerrilla group based in Italy responsible for numerous violent incidents, including the abduction ...

safehouse in Milan. The killings further polarised Italian politics during the Years of Lead and led to a fracture within the

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration s ...

movement, with more radical militants blaming the party leadership for its failure to denounce the police for Recchioni's death and choosing to join emerging extremist groups like the Armed Revolutionary Nuclei. Singer and songwriter Fabrizio Marzi dedicated the song ''Giovinezza'' ("Youth") to Stefano Recchioni in 1979. Riots broke out during commemorations of the victims on 10 January 1979, with seventeen-year old Alberto Giaquinto being fatally injured by police officer Alessio Speranza, who was subsequently acquitted of all charges. In 2013, then-mayor of Rome and former MSI member Gianni Alemanno named a street of the city after three victims.

Filmography

''Rhythm 'n Blood''
a film by Kaspar Hauser, was released in 2008. The documentary is based on the killings and the following raid on , a far-left radio station based in Rome.

References

Sources

* Andrea Colombo, ''Storia Nera, Bologna La verità di Francesca Mambro e Valerio Fioravanti'', Cairo editore, 2007, * Luca Telese, ''Cuori Neri. Dal rogo di Primavalle alla morte di Ramelli'', 2006, * Massimiliano Morelli, ''Acca Larentia-Asfalto nero sangue'', 2008, {{ISBN, 978-88-88329-84-0 1970s in Rome 1978 murders in Italy Deaths by firearm in Italy Deaths related to the Years of Lead (Italy) Far-left terrorism Italian neo-fascism Terrorist incidents in Italy in 1978 Unsolved murders in Italy Years of Lead (Italy)

Events

Aftermath

Filmography

See also

References

Sources