“Nordio inside an R4”. Red Brigades intimidation of the minister in Rome

A threatening message targeting Justice Minister Carlo Nordio has appeared on a wall in Rome. Written in red, it reads: “Nordio, I’ll put you in an R4”, accompanied by a five-pointed star and the initials ‘Br’. The reference is well known: the R4 is the red Renault 4 in which, on 9 May 1978, the body of Aldo Moro was found, having been brutally murdered by the Red Brigades after 55 days in captivity. The graffiti was spotted by local residents, who reported it to the authorities as early as yesterday evening. Today, officers from the Eur Carabinieri station visited the scene, at number 473 Via Portuense, near the Carabinieri barracks in the former Forlanini Hospital, to review CCTV footage and interview witnesses.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her own solidarity and that of the government with the minister, condemning the incident as “an extremely serious and unacceptable act of intimidation”. Meloni went on to state that “the reference to the darkest years of terrorism and the Red Brigades is something that must be condemned in the strongest possible terms, without any ambiguity”.

Among the first politicians to express solidarity with Nordio was the leader of the Fratelli d’Italia group in the Chamber of Deputies, Galeazzo Bignami, who, in a statement, expressed “full solidarity on my part and on the part of all Fratelli d’Italia MPs with Minister Carlo Nordio, who has been the target of a message as despicable as its authors”. Bignami also stated that “the strategy of terror, and physical and verbal violence in this country, must be stopped without ifs or buts, with determination and without ambiguity”. Deborah Serracchiani, a Member of Parliament from the PD, also described the threats as unacceptable. 

Luca Zaia, President of the Veneto Regional Council, also spoke out in support of Nordio, describing what had happened as “a serious and despicable act” and expressing his “strongest and most wholehearted solidarity” with the minister. “Attacking Nordio amounts to an attempt to intimidate not only a minister of the Republic, but a man who has dedicated his life to serving the state. Throughout his long career as a magistrate, he has always defended the institutions with rigour, balance and firmness, even in the courts and during the most delicate moments,” the League politician continued, urging the state to act promptly and decisively to identify and prosecute those responsible.

“Recalling the crimes committed by the Red Brigades is an insult to the memory of the victims and an intolerable attack on the State and our democracy,” wrote Senate President Ignazio La Russa in a post on X. La Russa expressed his solidarity with Nordio, adding that “No subversive delusions and no intimidation will ever be able to undermine the work of the institutions and the primacy of the law”.