Successful April 25 soured by two shots from an airgun in Rome

"I feel shaken and deeply outraged, because this shows that there is still a great need for these demonstrations, since fascists who act like cowards are still out there and we must remain very vigilant."

The speeches from the stage had just ended. The thousands of people who marched to Parco Schuster were sitting on the grass. Most of them were families; children were playing among the Palestinian flags and the flags of the National Association of Italian Partisans (ANPI). At one point, the music stopped: “Attention: two of our comrades have been shot with an air gun. They are both in the ambulance and are not seriously injured. This is an extremely grave act that we are reporting to the authorities,” the organizers announced from the stage.

Marina Pierlorenzi, secretary of the ANPI chapter for Rome and the Lazio region, was still in shock as she recounted what happened: a man with his face covered by a full-face helmet and wearing a military green jacket (some described it as a camo jacket in the first frantic minutes) fired an air gun at two participants from a scooter. 

The victims were a married couple, both ANPI members, wearing the partisans’ tricolor scarves. The woman, identified as R.G., was hit in the shoulder; her husband, N.F., was struck in the neck. They were treated immediately by the ambulances on site and their injuries were minor. They subsequently filed a report at the police station. 

“I feel shaken and deeply outraged, because this shows that there is still a great need for these demonstrations, since fascists who act like cowards are still out there and we must remain very vigilant,” the woman said. “We must not let our guard down.” 

“We are all shocked, because these are comrades who came here to be together during a time of........

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