Reports: Protester hits Berlusconi at Milan rally

[onehandle]

Source: AP

ROME – Italian news reports say a man punched Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in the face at a rally in Milan and the leader was whisked away in a car after falling to the ground.

State TV showed Berlusconi with blood on his lips as he was lifted to his feet by aides.

A spokesman for Berlusconi says he didn't immediately have any information about the incident, which happened after the premier delivered a long, rousing speech to his conservative supporters Sunday evening.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091213/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_berlusconi_2

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No surprise. He's lucky he didn't get a knife in his gut.

[kenny blankenship]

1. In related news, anyone hiding the boy, Vito Andolini, is bringing calamity upon his house & family

Authorities said he was wanted for questioning.

[onehandle]

3. LOL! nt

[alsame]

5. LOL.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. Mio padre se chiamo Antonio Andolini

E questo e per te.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffAiiIn3AIY

:-)

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. That's a shame

...

:rofl:

[Lars77]

4. Too bad he only got one punch N/T

[onager]

7. He got off easy

Milan 1943:

[shadowknows69]

9. The week aint over yet.

[David__77]

33. Exactly!

He's a fascist, but without the populist trappings.

[shadowknows69]

8. Why couldn't one of those shoes nailed Bush. Why Gods why!!!!

[Thrill]

10. Berlusconi is going to put a hit out on him

ouch

[FightingIrish]

11. La Repubblica has a series photos.

The 42 year old assailant, Massimo Tartaglia, got a good lick in.



http://www.repubblica.it/2006/05/gallerie/politica/berlusconi-aggredito/1.html

There's also a video:
http://tv.repubblica.it/copertina/milano-berlusconi-ferito-al-volto/40209?video

[Judi Lynn]

20. Here's a YouTube video on the event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIleZNVRrxU

[Hawkeye-X]

12. That should give him a clue

that NOONE likes this Mussolini wannabe.

Hawkeye-X

[Odin2005]

13. Serves him right!

[Turborama]

14. BBC Report with footage of his post punched face (video)

Italian Prime Minister Receives Beatdown From Angry Audience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSAsds9WxrU

[santamargarita]

15. Throw a shoe or punch one in the face, every fascist pig deserves...

what he gets.

[slackmaster]

43. People being assaulted by those who disagree with them is all fun and games

Until it happens to someone you like.

[stevedeshazer]

16. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi punched at Milan rally

Source: cnn.com

Rome, Italy (CNN) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was taken to a hospital after being punched in the face at a rally in northern Italy, a spokesman said Sunday.

Berlusconi was shaking hands with supporters after an appearance in Milan when someone in the crowd hit him, said Roberto Gasparotti, a spokesman for the controversial premier.

Berlusconi did not lose consciousness, but his face was cut and bleeding when he was rushed to the hospital, Gasparotti told CNN.

No details about his attacker were immediately available.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/13/berlusconi.milan/index.html

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:wow:

[47of74]

17. I remember last summer in Italy

The tour director couldn't stand Bushlusconi.

[Warren Stupidity]

18. Good.

[MH1]

19. Also posted here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4182612

[dballance]

21. Now it's W's turn

Can we do this with stupid-wad Bush and Cheney? I can't think of two people who deserve it more than them.

[liberation]

22. Ah, "tough boy" Berlusconi started quivering like a scared puppy after the punch landed

A fairly uncharacteristic reaction from the self described "most intelligent and awesome president in the history of Earth"

Reports are that the assailant was also mentally perturbed, which would make this a nut on nut crime...

[geckosfeet]

23. :)

:nopity:

[chatnoir]

24. Broken nose and two broken teeth

According to http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h-gZ27SjSkQz0utROaRHDDidV2EgD9CIM4K80

[Ken Burch]

25. According to this link, it wasn't a punch...someone threw a model of Milan Cathedral in his face

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/berlusconis-face-bloodied-by-attack/article1398865/

Is that some traditional Italian form of violence that I've never heard of?

[FightingIrish]

28. That would be a lethal weapon

[Ken Burch]

32. It wasn't a full-sized model

It would be the equivalent of somebody in Paris hitting Sarkozy with one of those Eiffel Tower trinkets they sell in tourist shops.

[Retrograde]

34. or a small rock

those trinkets come in a wide range of sizes, and some can be quite hefty. And the cathedral has a lot of pointy parts (the real building has fiddly bits on the fiddly bits - it's very impressive in its overblown way). With enough force it can do real damage.

Not a Berlusconi fan, but I don't advocate physical violence against anyone.

[Ken Burch]

42. I don't defend this act.

Just clarifying the details.

The worst thing is, this will give the caribineri yet another reason to rough up leftists, intellectuals, union members and the poor.

Has anybody raised the question yet of whether it was staged?

Is Berlusconi crazy enough to have this done to himself in the name of making some public show of macho?

[JCMach1]

38. The Dude was crazy... and I don't mean the PM

[Ken Burch]

39. Well, yeah.

n/t.

[tabasco]

26. Another boohoohoo crybaby when there's danger.

Another tough-talking rightie who acts like a baby in a fistfight.

Moments like this reveal cowards.

[demoleft]

27. the man who hit berlusconi is under psychiatrist care since ten years...

...papers say here in italy.

anyway, the tv news coverage in berlusconi's channels (canale 5, italia 1, rete 4) is continually (and now really ridiculously) reporting breaking news on his health state.

"attack" is the title ("aggressione"). bossi, leader of northern party "lega nord", berlusconi's allied party, talked of "terrorism" - but everything coming from him here is always understood "theatrically", at least in the centre-south of italy.

of course i do not like what happened. in the least.
but the tv news here are exaggerating.

[New Dawn]

29. LOL.

Pwned.

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/video-image-made-available-RAI-TG3-shows-Italian-Premier-Silvio/photo//091213/481/01f3cea249c04c95a2f094a38e37430b//s:/ap/20091213/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_berlusconi

[AlphaCentauri]

30. I though Berlusconi had lost touch with the people

apparently not

:evilgrin:

[Vidar]

31. It's a shame he didn't have an axe.

[Endangered Specie]

35. Could have been worse... just ask Il Duce

[JCMach1]

36. UPDATE: Berlusconi 'will need weeks to recover' after attack

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is under observation in hospital after being attacked after a political rally in Milan.

His doctor Alberto Zangrillo said it would take a few weeks for Mr Berlusconi to make a full recovery.

He said the prime minister's nose and two teeth were broken in the attack and that he had lost a lot of blood.

A 42-year-old man, who has a history of mental illness, has been charged with aggravated assault.

Dr Zangrillo said Mr Berlusconi, 73, had had to undergo a CT scan in the hospital but did not yet require any surgery... "He suffered a big trauma to his face with two evident wounds on the upper lip, one external and one internal which needed surgical suture," he said.

He is believed to have been struck full in the face by a souvenir model of Milan cathedral while signing autographs.

Show of defiance

However Dr Zangrillo said Mr Berlusconi was still not quite sure about what happened to him.

After the attack on Sunday evening the prime minister, looking dazed, was helped to his feet by aides and put in a car. He got out and tried to climb on the car to show he was all right, before being driven away... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8411198.stm

[IrishBuckeye]

37. The bruised ego will take more than a weeks to heal

After getting smacked down into a daze on video for all the world to see he wasn't looking much like a leader in the aftermath that's for sure.

[Ter]

41. At 73, what did you expect him to do?

After getting blasted in the face with a metal object and losing his front teeth, did you want him to say "That's your best shot punk? Now it's my turn!" and do a scissor kick on his attacker? I'll stick to just blasting his policies.

[Ter]

40. I'm sorry, but I'm appalled at some of the replies in here

I hate most of his politics as much or more than anyone else, but the man is a legally elected leader in Europe. It's never cool to strike a 73 year old in the face with a metal object to the point where the poor guy lost his teeth, disagreeing with his politics is not an excuse. That is an outrageous and cowardly act of violence. Would the same people still be cheering if it had happened to Castro or Chavez? I know I wouldn't!

[pinniped]

44. It's just a flesh wound.

He's a shark, so new teeth will replace the void.