Out of Control
The attack on protesters and the press in Genoa
Ninety-three persons were arrested and charged with possession of firebombs and criminal association to commit vandalism. According to The Wall Street Journal, police later claimed that 61 of those arrested were injured while “rioting.” Police displayed two bottles filled with gasoline, swim goggles, cell phones and tanning lotion (get that Black Bloc tan . . . ) as well as black hoods they said they confiscated in the raid. They made direct insinuations that IMC reporters participated in much-vilified Black Bloc actions. The Black Bloc is an affinity group--based street-action tactic (not an organization) that has been blamed for most of the property destruction and violence in Genoa. In one of the worst instances of yellow journalism attending this event, NBC‘s television coverage on Saturday called the Black Bloc “apolitical” and “often drugged.”
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has come under widespread criticism for the violent actions of riot police in Genoa, later claimed that the Genoa Social Forum building was housing “violent anarchists.”
Questions remain about the killing of 23-year-old anarchist Giuliani. Reuters photo sequences available on the IMC suggest he was shot down in cold blood while others attacked the police vehicle. As IMCista put it, “This is a sad day for democracy.”
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