Left-leaning Italian lawmakers and politicians on Sunday called for measures to outlaw pro-fascism groups a day after anti-vaccine protesters, incited by extreme-right leaders, stormed a union office in Rome.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Twelve protesters were either detained or arrested, authorities said Sunday, including Giuliano Castellino, leader of the extreme-right Forza Nuova party. Some 10,000 demonstrators turned out Saturday to express their outrage at a government-imposed requirement that employees have a "Green Pass" to enter their workplaces starting next Friday. The passes certify that a person has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, recently recovered from the virus, or tested negative within two days.
After the storming of the union headquarters, demonstrators headed down Rome's Via Veneto, a boulevard that winds past the US Embassy. As a precaution, Italian security officials decided to usher US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi out of a nearby church where she had been attending Mass, her office said Sunday.
Among those calling for the outlawing of pro-fascism groups was Giuseppe Conte, Italy's former premier and the new leader of the populist 5-Star Movement.
