They used a red marker, a kind of marker that is usually used to “mark” the cows. And with that they smeared a column of the Basilica of Vicenza, one of the architectural wonders of Andrea Palladio, a national monument for some years. “They” are two members of the largest foreign community in the city, the United States. About fifteen thousand people, four thousand of them soldiers.
Outside the “Del Din” barracks
Last Sunday, shortly after 2, two of them stationed at the “Del Din” barracks, AJ Jr aged 29 and BM E aged 23, found nothing better to do than stroll in Piazza dei Signori, stop in front of the Basilica and draw a sort of teddy bear and a number, 24. In front of local police officers, the carabinieri of the Setaf Nucleus and the personnel of the US Department of Army Criminal Investigation, one of the two allegedly justified himself thus: «24 is a number that brings me luck.” Maybe, but not this time. Both authors have admitted responsibility. And since it is a national monument, there is a penalty: imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years and a fine from 1,500 to 10,000 euros. With them there was also a third soldier, who did not participate in the “operation red bear”. For him, it is not the complaint but only a report.
The return and the cameras
The video surveillance cameras of the historic center were fundamental in identifying the confessed offenders. Their clothing betrays them
put typically American halfway between rap and tourist in Miami. And, as reported by local police officers, it was also an overall attitude that betrayed the American soldiers, from walking to gesturing. Subsequent confirmation came from the viewing of video footage from the cameras at the entrance to the “Del Din” barracks. At 2.55 the three were seen returning to base.
The fraud
That there is malice, today, not only the investigators hypothesize. The situation of the three is aggravated by the fact that the same soiling was also carried out previously in Piazza Matteotti near the Teatro Olimpico (another Palladian marvel). The circumstance that the videos outline a scene in which a soldier is a lookout, the other draws, the other is a few meters away. And above all the circumstance that unless you think you’ll find a herd of grazing cows in a Renaissance historic center, someone would have to explain why you leave a military barracks with a red marker for cows. In short, what might be plausible in any village in Montana or Arkansas is excluded in Vicenza.
The wrath of Possamai
Let’s be clear: in the city for more than seventy years, Americans have always made themselves known with a wide range of seriousness. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s when they stopped in Vicenza to rest from the fatigues of Vietnam by introducing various types of pastimes (often read drugs) into the city, up to the present day, between fights and sexual violence (which led to trials). Today, violence touches the Basilica. «In a few days we managed to trace those responsible, two military personnel from the Del Din American base who admitted that they were present here in the square and that they were the perpetrators of the deplorable act, one of the two in particular, and therefore guilty of the criminal offense – says the mayor Giacomo Possamai -. We will also ask to compensate the city through activities whose modalities will be defined together with the American base”.
Colonel Weisman’s commentary
Colonel Mike Weisman, spokesman for the American SETAF-AF Command in Vicenza, said he was willing to collaborate with the ongoing investigations: «We are aware of the allegations against two soldiers stationed in Vicenza. We expect all of our soldiers to respect the laws and culture of our host nation. These allegations certainly do not reflect the standards of values of our military and the American military community here in Vicenza. We remain committed to collaborating with Italian law enforcement agencies during this investigation.”