Bitter tears over the lenient sentence handed down to Eitan, the ‘mass murderer’ of 25 April. As for everyone else, however…

For the public prosecutor’s office, it was attempted murder, involving the misuse of weapons. For the investigating magistrate, who reclassified the offence, it constituted attempted bodily harm and the unlawful carrying of ‘objects capable of causing injury’. For the judge who convicted him, however, Eitan Bondì was guilty of assault. “A minor offence, so much so that, if the victims withdraw their complaint, the case will be dropped.” They’re almost in tears at La Repubblica at the news that Eitan Bondì, the 22-year-old who on 25 April fired an airsoft gun at the ANPI march in Rome, has got off with four months’ imprisonment and a suspended sentence. Never mind; for Repubblica, he remains ‘the sniper of the 25 April march’. The evocation of a potential massacre. After all, Italy is the country where a massacre can even be a point of view.

The deputy prosecutor at the Bologna Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA), Morena Plazzi, has ruled out the aggravating circumstance of terrorism in the case of Salim El Koudri, who ploughed his car into a crowd: one person was killed and seven were injured. The act remains a massacre, but the aggravating circumstance of terrorism has been ruled out. This decision is not likely to be lamented, as *Rep.* did over Bondì’s reclassifications; nevertheless, the question of whether the actions of an attacker who, moreover, exits the vehicle armed with a knife can be classified as terrorism remains valid. It is a matter of perspective: a young man firing rubber bullets is far more alarming than a young man charging into a crowd with a knife. Or perhaps than many young people – though these are merely somewhat boisterous – who provoke clashes with the police at demonstrations.

For example, in Turin, during the general strike marches on Friday 30 October, there were scuffles of varying severity, attempts to break through police cordons and more; in the end, officers identified 256 people and charged 12 protesters. However, according to La Stampa, the events of 30 October were described as “the peaceful general strike rally”, as reported yesterday in an article that also commendably gave a voice to two officers who denounced the climate of “dehumanisation” directed at the police, stating that “this makes it easier to target us”. In this instance, however, the individuals involved are young people; the level of civil tolerance must therefore be more understanding and lenient, even when they are young adults.

Among the eighteen sentences sought on appeal a few days ago for the leaders of Askatasuna (relating to violence in Val di Susa and other specific incidents – though the aggravating circumstance of criminal association had already been dropped), the 64-year-old leader Giorgio Rossetto is at the forefront, now eligible for a Fornero pension due to arduous work. With regard to the clashes on 31 January, it has emerged that Massimiliano Monai is also under investigation – better known as ‘the man with the beam’ – who, in 2001 at the G8 summit in Genoa, attempted to break through the Carabinieri’s Defender armoured vehicle, from which Mario Placanica subsequently fired the shot that killed Carlo Loiuliani. The case was time-barred on appeal. The passion, however, remains; he is now 55 years old, yet he is still the same young man who never wanted to hurt anyone. If we were in the mood for controversy, we might say that in this country there continues to be a double standard when it comes to judging political violence – there are always comrades who go too far out of excessive zeal. Instead, we shall simply say that it is merely a matter of perspective.