The deputy: “Mine was a calm, symbolic, peaceful gesture, there are the images. Then all hell happened, squad aggression and unprecedented violence”
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“Mine was a calm, symbolic, peaceful gesture, there are the images. Then all hell happened. It wasn’t a fight, involving several people fighting each other, there was a squad-based attack by several right-wing deputies who they tried in every way to reach me, they did it with kicks and punches.” M5S deputy Leonardo Donno explained this to Agorà, confirming his reconstruction of yesterday’s brawl in the Chamber.
“I have to thank the parliamentary assistants, I can’t imagine if they hadn’t been there, they protected me from this unprecedented violence”, added the M5S exponent. “I was hit in the sternum. Then I collapsed because of this. Obviously I know very well who hit me. I also reviewed the images to ascertain everything”, he further explained.
Tricolore, Bella Ciao, brawl and VAR: what happened yesterday in Montecitorio
Everything happened in Montecitorio yesterday, in what can undoubtedly be considered the most tense day since the legislature began. The bill on autonomy is being discussed in the Chamber, strongly supported by the League and its minister Roberto Calderoli (present in the Chamber during the proceedings) and opposed with the same intensity by the opposition. The signs that it would not be a session like the others had already been seen in the afternoon during the commemoration of Silvio Berlusconi one year after his death, with Forza Italia angry at the harsh speech of Riccardo Ricciardi (M5S) to the point of abandoning the ‘Classroom. But it was during the debate on the Calderoli bill that the brawl broke out.
The opposition deputies, from Pd to M5S and Avs, get up from their benches and start waving tricolor flags, singing the Mameli anthem as an act of protest against differentiated autonomy: “Let’s defend the unity of our country”. “A beautiful moment of patriotism, thank you”, ironically comments the Northern League president of the Chamber, Lorenzo Fontana. But in addition to the Italian anthem, another chorus starts from the seats of the Democratic Party: it is ‘Bella ciao’, the song of the partisans. League deputy Domenico Furgiuele doesn’t agree and draws an ‘X’ with his arms, imitating General Vannacci in the advert for the European elections which has now become famous. An uproar breaks out in the Chamber. “He made the symbol of the X Mas!”, the complaint that comes from the Democratic Party. Furgiuele is expelled from the Chamber and Fontana announces an investigation with the police commissioners to shed light on the case. “But which X Mas, mine was only a ‘no’ to Bella ciao… Like to X Factor”, Furgiuele justifies himself speaking with reporters in Transatlantico.
The Calabrian representative of the Northern League doesn’t even have time to finish speaking when new screams come from the chamber. “What’s happening?”, “They expelled Donno from the 5 Stars”, the voices that chase each other in the corridor of lost steps. Doctors and healthcare workers enter the Chamber: we also see a stretcher and a wheelchair, on which, after a few minutes, Leonardo Donno will emerge with a distorted face, led to the infirmary by white coats. Avs deputy Marco Grimaldi approaches journalists and tells his version of events: “A deputy from the League punched him twice in the head”. The very first rumors speak of Lega MP Igori Iezzi’s involvement in the brawl; the name of Fratelli d’Italia exponent Federico Mollicone is also mentioned. “It’s squadrism”, attack the Democratic Party, the 5 Star Movement and the Green Left Alliance in unison.
Meanwhile, the first videos of the brawl begin to circulate in parliamentarians’ chats. In the images we see Donno approaching Calderoli with the tricolor: the minister does not like the homage and before the M5S deputy can complete the ‘delivery’ the clerks intervene, ready to hunt down Donno. The brawl breaks out, a crowd is created around Donno in which, among others, Federico Mollicone and Gimmi Cangiano of Fratelli d’Italia appear, but also Stefano Candiani and Igor Iezzi of the Lega (the latter will try to hit Donno several times, as can be clearly seen from the videos). At a certain point Donno falls to the ground “like a dead body falls”, as the Poet would say.
Later the Grillino parliamentarian reported having received “a very strong punch to the sternum” so strong that he lost his breath. After “7-8 electrocardiograms” and a painkiller, Donno returns to the Transatlantic and names the four parliamentarians who allegedly beat him: Iezzi and Candiani of the League, Cangiano and Amich of Fratelli d’Italia. “I have the report, I will report whoever attacked me. These squadristi must no longer enter Parliament”, swears the five-star member, who receives the solidarity of the leader Giuseppe Conte (“they will not pass”), while the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein speaks of ” very serious facts” and evokes none other than the Matteotti crime, which marks its centenary. In the brawl – where only swear words, pushes and punches were flown – a parliamentary assistant also paid the price, hit in the face and taken by arm to the infirmary.
In the meantime, the House Transatlantic is transformed into a huge ‘var’ room: the deputies in the group view the images of the brawl on their cell phones, commenting half-heartedly on what happened. The response of the ‘moviola’ for the centre-right parliamentarians is clear: Grillina simulation. “Donno threw himself on the ground and made a scene”, accuses Mollicone of Fdi, pointing the finger at Donno’s “disrespectful and outrageous gesture” towards Calderoli. The leader of the League Riccardo Molinari classifies everything as “parliamentary dynamics”.
Shortly afterwards, in a note, Matteo Salvini’s party tries to clarify: “It is MP Donno of the M5S who attacked Minister Calderoli. The uproar generated is the consequence of the highly provocative behavior of MP Donno. The video demonstrates how the events really took place.” All the people called into question by Donno forcefully reject the accusations: “A drama, I didn’t hit him” (Iezzi), “I only approached to take the flag back, I was far from Donno” (Cangiano), “I intervened in the fray to calm it down” (Amich), “Donno plays the victim when he is actually the instigator, shame on him” (Candiani).
For a few minutes, peace returns to the Chamber and work resumes. But the illusion of witnessing a normal debate does not last long. “Stefano Bertacco, present…”, says Fratelli d’Italia deputy Marco Padovani at the end of his speech, paying homage to the former Fdi senator Stefano Bertacco who passed away in 2020. “The reference to the ‘present’? But how do you ago…”, those of the Democratic Party shout in disbelief. And it’s immediately a brawl, once again. The dem Nico Stumpo is expelled by the current president, Sergio Costa, for throwing a chair. Fabio Petrella of Fdi reports having received two “crutches” on the chest from Toni Ricciardi (Pd).
The session is adjourned, there are no longer any conditions to continue. The videos of the brawl are acquired by the Presidency of the Chamber “to ascertain the facts in their entirety and take further measures”. Upon leaving the hemicycle, Tommaso Foti, group leader of Fdi, openly accuses Pd and M5S of wanting to ruin Meloni’s G7 and looking at Schlein – sitting on one of the sofas in the Transatlantic – he makes an eloquent gesture with his hand: it’s not done that way. He brings the curtain down on the Montecitorio fight club. But there are those who swear that it’s only the first round.
