MILAN. Arm raised and Roman salute at a funeral: the new Lombardy Region Security Councilor Romano La Russa (brother of Ignazio), exponent of the Brothers of Italy, immediately ended up in the storm for what happened on Monday in Milan.
The commissioner attended the funeral of Alberto Stabilini, a militant of the city right since the seventies – known as “Pilotone” – which took place at the church in via Copernico in Milan. The commissioner, clearly seen in the video that has circulated and gone viral on social media, makes the gesture of the Roman greeting together with others: «Camerata Alberto Stabilini. Present », repeated three times.
This is the greeting of the “present”, a neo-fascist rite that had already been seen in the commemorations, for example, for Sergio Ramelli, 19 years old killed in the 1970s by left-wing extremists. “It is a very serious fact, not worthy of a democratic institution like the Lombardy Region – it is the immediate reaction of the Lombard Democratic Party, through the mouth of the dem group leader in the Regional Council Fabio Pizzul – We ask the councilor La Russa to dissociate himself publicly”.
The Democratic Party also asked for the intervention of the President of the Region: “We expect Governor Fontana to censor the gesture of his councilor, without forcing us to file a motion of censure in the Council,” continues the note from the dem to Pirellone. “During the electoral campaign, this right has tried in every way to pretend to be moderate, but this is its real face – was the comment of the underground secretary dem Silvia Roggiani, candidate for the Chamber. – La Russa is not worthy to represent our institutions and the governor Fontana also has great and serious responsibilities for having appointed him councilor for security of our Lombardy. This is the right of Meloni and Fratelli d’Italia ”, she concluded.
«This gesture for the final greeting was expressly requested by Alberto, a friend and my brother-in-law. But it has nothing to do with fascism. It is an instrumental controversy born of ignorance. But I realize that a few days after the vote, that gesture is inappropriate ”, Councilor La Russa defended himself.
Stablini, at whose funeral the fascist salute took place, was arrested in 1973 and taken to prison following the clashes in which agent Marino was killed.