“They were beating and threatening, even with a knife to their throat, my children and I intervened. But I didn’t want to run over anyone.” A 47-year-old father from Viterbo defends himself in court against the accusations regarding the April 26 maxiriss at the Shrine. He is accused of injuries and aggravated brawl for having, according to the reconstruction of the investigators, attempted to run over a 33-year-old Afghan man with his car during the scuffle.
In the courtroom, in front of judge Giovanna Camillo, the 47-year-old told his version of events, justifying his intervention as a reaction to the alleged aggression suffered by his children by a baby gang. “I arrived at the Shrine after being contacted by my son and some friends. They were threatening my 11 and 14 year old daughters: they put a knife under the throat of one and snatched the phone from the other’s hands. My son too the largest was beaten to death by about ten people.”
The 47-year-old went on to explain that he arrived on site in a white Audi driven by a friend, who also ended up implicated in the affair. “There were a lot of people: 15, 16 who had baseball bats and hammers. I was looking for my children but I couldn’t see them and, as soon as I got out of the car, I got a blow on the head. I fell to the ground but no one he helped me, I got up on my own after a few seconds. It wasn’t my intention to hit anyone and I neither hit nor participated in the fight. I honked the horn because there were people around the car and I wanted them to get out of the way.”
The 47-year-old’s son and nephew testified in court. “I was attacked – said the 22-year-old son of the accused – by the baby gang who were threatening my sisters. I approached them to ask for explanations. They said that one of my sisters had called one of them “cross-eyed”, but it wasn’t true because she was angry with a friend of hers on the phone. I was also kicked and punched by 8/9 people. Then my head and foot hurt and I ended up in hospital for five days of prognosis for shoulder and knee injuries”.
A similar version was provided by the 47-year-old’s nephew: “I called my uncle (the accused instead said he had been contacted by his son, ed.) and told him to come because they were beating us up. We had been surrounded by a group of 20 year olds but also with 15, 16 year olds known for being troublemakers. They attacked us, they got angry and I was scared when the situation was getting violent and he arrived in about ten minutes : “Leave my son alone and go away.” Then I saw the 33-year-old Afghan man beat up the car in which he had arrived and the brothel continued to the Shrine. They beat everyone up and the police arrived I was called home by my father.”
That April 26, around 6.30 pm, the situation degenerated into a violent clash between the two factions. It escalated into a fight with clubs, bars and knives, requiring the intervention of the police and carabinieri who arrived with pepper spray. The dynamics of the events were immortalized by some videos. We return to court on December 3rd.
