On 3 February 2018, in the city of Macerata,

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, 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#2000, Turin Motor Show in June 20 ...

and armed with a 9mm

Glock 17 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

Gen 3

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

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 perpetrators to quickly strike their targets and flee the scene before l ...

, six African migrants. Traini also targeted the local headquarters of the ruling Italian Democratic Party. After the attack, Traini had an Italian flag draped on his shoulders and raised his arm in a

fascist salute The Roman salute, also known as the Fascist salute, is a Salute, 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 hel ...

. The attack received widespread media coverage and affected Italian politics 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 democracy, democracies, political campaigns often refer to election, electoral campaigns, by which representatives a ...

for the

2018 Italian general election The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was Dissolution of parliament in Italy, dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017. Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of ...

. Traini said the attack was revenge for the murder of Pamela Mastropietro, 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 derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

national and failed

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...

, had been arrested and charged.

Aftermath

Traini was a member and former local candidate of

Lega Nord Lega Nord (LN; ), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing politics, right-wing, federalism, federalist, populism, populist and conservatism, conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. In the run-up to the 201 ...

(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 been serving 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 F ...

, 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, journalist, and screenwriter. In his writings, including articles and his book ''Gomorrah (book), Gomorrah'', he uses literature and investigative reporting to tell of the economic ...

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

centre-left coalition The centre-left coalition () is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1995, when The Olive Tree was formed under the leadership of Romano Prodi. The centre-left coalition has ruled the c ...

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 that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

". Marco Minniti, 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 Council of Ministers (Italy), Italian Council of Ministers and leads the Ministry of the Interior (Italy), Ministry of the ...

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

Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...

at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

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

magazines A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

of the perpetrator, Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, alongside other far-right

mass murder Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...

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 an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

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 (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

, in addition to other crimes, including unlawful carrying of

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

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

summary judgment In law, a summary judgment, also referred to as judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition, is a Judgment (law), judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party summarily, i.e., without a full Trial (law), trial. Summa ...

References

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

Neo-fascist attacks in Italy Non-fatal shootings Racially motivated violence against black people in Europe Racism in Italy 2018 disasters in Italy Terrorist incidents in Europe in 2018 Terrorist incidents in Italy in the 2010s 2018 mass shootings in Europe

Aftermath

See also

References