It’s a surreal situation that Valerio Staffelli and his crew found themselves facing in action at the Central Station from Milan. As has already happened on other occasions, the correspondent of The news spreadswas documenting the work of pickpockets, who every day rob unsuspecting citizens and tourists in the subway and train stations, when one of her collaborators was stopped for a check – and then removed from the station – while the pickpockets passed by undisturbed ready to attack the travellers.
Striscia la Notizia’s complaint
The complaint arrived a few hours before the live broadcast of the satirical news program through the pages of the show’s official website. “A collaborator of Valerio Staffelli, engaged in the creation of a service on pickpocketing at Milan Central Station and equipped with a regular ticket, was blocked at the entrance gates to the platforms by the Railways security staff”, we read the news on the Striscia portal: “In fact, the satirical news program was prevented from continuing the investigation into the thefts in trains. Meanwhile, the pickpockets passed calmly and without travel documents through the exit turnstiles nearby“.
What happened at the station
After the complaint made on his website, Antonio Ricci decided to broadcast the report created by Valerio Staffelli and his crew to report the incident. In the video you can clearly see that while most people enter without being stopped for i controls routinely, a girl from Staffelli’s staff is detained and then – despite having a train ticket – is made to leave the station. Staffelli’s intervention was of no avail as he tried to obtain answers about the treatment reserved for his collaborator, while at the same time a pickpocket passed through the checks undisturbed.
At the sight of the cameras, however, the service and security staff lost their temper and triggered a heated discussion with Valerio: “Mr. Staffelli, stay calm, we’ll throw them out, not you! You’re just putting on a show.” “You stop honest people and you don’t stop thieves“, was the response of the Striscia correspondent, who still managed to follow some thieves documenting their technique and warning the unfortunate citizens.
The reaction on social media
The video of the report – one of many that Striscia created to document the scourge of pickpocketing – was also shared on the social channels of the satirical news program and sparked a heated controversy over the treatment reserved for the crew.
“A shame“, many wrote under Striscia’s post.
