On 3 February 2018, a right-wing terrorist shooting occurred in

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ri ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It received widespread

media coverage Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

and affected

Italian politics The politics of Italy are conducted through a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. Italy has been a democratic republic since 2 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum and a constituent assembly was electe ...

as it occurred during the

political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...

for the

2018 Italian general election The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017. Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective membe ...

Events

On 3 February 2018, in the city of Macerata,

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, 28-year-old local Luca Traini, driving a black

Alfa Romeo 147 The Alfa Romeo 147 (Type 937) is a small family car produced by the Italian automaker Alfa Romeo from 2000 to 2010. The 147 was voted European Car of the Year in 2001. The 147 was launched at the Turin Motor Show in June 2000 as a replacement fo ...

and armed with a 9mm

Glock 17 Glock is a brand of polymer-Receiver (firearms), framed, Recoil operation#Short recoil operation, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H., Glock Ges.m.b.H. The ...

Gen3

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...

, seriously wounded, in a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

, six African migrants. Traini also targeted the local headquarters of the ruling Italian

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. After the attack, Traini reportedly had an

Italian flag The national flag of Italy ( it, Bandiera d'Italia, ), often referred to in Italian as ''il Tricolore'' ( en, the Tricolour, ) is a tricolour (flag), tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical Pale (heraldry), pales of green, white and red, ...

draped on his shoulders and raised his arm in a

fascist salute The Roman salute, alternatively called the Fascist salute, is a gesture in which the right arm is fully extended, facing forward, with palm down and fingers touching. In some versions, the arm is raised upward at an angle; in others, it is held ...

. Traini said the attack was revenge for the

murder of Pamela Mastropietro Pamela Mastropietro was an 18-year-old Italian woman who was last seen on 29 January 2018. She was murdered soon after in Macerata, Italy. Her murderer, a Nigerian people in Italy, Nigerian migrant drug dealer named Innocent Oseghale, was convicted ...

, an 18-year-old local girl whose dismembered body had been found a few days earlier, stuffed into two suitcases and dumped in the countryside. For this, Innocent Oseghale, a 29-year-old

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

national and failed

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

, had been arrested and charged.

Aftermath

Traini was a member and former local candidate of

Lega Nord Lega Nord (; acronym: LN), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing, federalist, populist and conservative political party in Italy. In the run-up of the 2018 general election, the party was rebranded as (), without changing its official n ...

(LN), and many political commentators, intellectuals, and politicians criticized the LN's leader

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of Federal ...

, accusing him of having spread hate and racism in the country. Anti-mafia writer

Roberto Saviano Roberto Saviano (; born 22 September 1979) is an Italian writer, essayist, journalist, and screenwriter. In his writings, including articles and his book '' Gomorrah'', he uses literature and investigative reporting to tell of the economic reali ...

labeled Salvini as the moral instigator of the attack. Salvini responded to critics by accusing the

centre-left coalition The centre-left coalition ( it, coalizione di centro-sinistra) is an political alliance, alliance of list of political parties in Italy, political parties in Italy active, under several forms and names, since 1995 when The Olive Tree (Italy), Th ...

government of responsibility for Mastropietro's death for allowing migrants to stay in the country and having "blood on their hands", asserting the blame lies with those who "fill us with

illegal immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwa ...

Marco Minniti Marco Minniti (; born 6 June 1956) is an Italian politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the government of Italy as Minister of the Interior from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018. Previously, he was one of the most prominent coun ...

, then

Italian Minister of the Interior The Minister of the Interior (Italian: ''Ministro dell'Interno'') in Italy is one of the most important positions in the Italian Council of Ministers and leads the Ministry of the Interior. The current Minister is prefect Matteo Piantedosi, a ...

, condemned the attack, saying that no political party must "ride the hate". During the 2019

Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

at Al Noor Mosque and

Linwood Islamic Centre The Linwood Islamic Centre is a Sunni Islam mosque in Linwood, New Zealand, Linwood, Christchurch, New Zealand. The mosque opened in early 2018 on the grounds of the former Christchurch Bahai Centre and the building had most recently been the Li ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, Traini's name was written on one of weapon

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

of the perpetrator, Australian

Brenton Harrison Tarrant On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

, alongside other far-right

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

ers and killers in addition to historical figures and battles. Tarrant also named Traini as among the shooters and killers that he supported because they "take a stand against ethnic and cultural genocide". Traini dissociated himself from the event, declaring himself to be regretful about what happened in Macerata. The Prosecutor's Office of Macerata formulated against Traini the accusation of

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

aggravated by the purpose of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

, in addition to other crimes, including unlawful carrying of

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

s. On 3 October 2018, Traini was sentenced to 12 years in prison with a

summary judgment In law, a summary judgment (also judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition) is a judgment entered by a court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes ...

References

{{reflist, 2 2018 crimes in Italy 21st century in Marche Crime in Marche February 2018 crimes in Europe February 2018 events in Italy

Shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

Neo-fascist attacks in Italy Terrorist incidents in Italy in 2018 2018 mass shootings in Europe