A rally in Rome on January 7 to mark the Acca Larentia massacre when three neo-fascist activists from the Italian Social Movement (MSI) were killed 46 years ago took a bizarre turn when the hundreds of participants raised their palms in a Nazi salute.
In the videos shot by onlookers last weekend, the saluting men can be heard yelling “present” three times as they raise their right arms. One then shouts a common neo-fascist battle cry: “For all fallen comrades.”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a right-wing populist and nationalist, has come under fire for not denouncing the demonstration strongly enough, resisting pressure to denounce and disband the groups that participated.
Publicly performing the Nazi salute is illegal in several countries
Italian law bans fascist symbolism including the salute with outstretched right arms tilted upward. The incident is now under investigation by Rome’s special anti-fascism police unit.
The European Jewish Congress condemned the incident, tweeting:
“Absolutely abhorrent. Hundreds of black-shirted Fascists gathered at a rally in Rome, where they performed the “saluto al Duce”, the Fascist salute. That gesture is from the darkest chapter of our history and must be left there.”
