Updated on 07/30/2022 at 16:42
- In the middle of a shopping street in Italy, a man attacked and killed a street vendor.
- Apparently, no one came to the victim’s rescue.
In Italy, the murder of a street vendor in broad daylight in the Adriatic coastal town of Civitanova Marche has sparked widespread outrage. The 39-year-old Nigerian was attacked and beaten to death by a 32-year-old Italian man on Friday afternoon, police said at a news conference in the small town in central Italy on Saturday. The alleged assailant chased his victim, knocked him down with his crutch and beat him several times. He then took the man’s cell phone with him. Police arrested the man on suspicion of premeditated murder and robbery.
The crime took place on a busy shopping street in the center of town. A video circulated online showing the assailant attacking his victim while she was still on the ground. In the background, people can be heard shouting “stop it” or “somebody call the police”.
Deadly attack in Italy: apparently no one intervened
The case sparked horror across the country because apparently no one came to help. A passerby said on Italian television that the man was only killed because of the color of his skin. The police, on the other hand, emphasized that there were no signs of a racist act. Investigators suspect the crime was triggered by an overreaction by the suspect when the victim asked for money. According to media reports, the man was a well-known street vendor in the area.
The regional president of the Marche region, where Civitanova Marche is located, spoke on Facebook about “insane and unprecedented violence”. According to him, the region wants to appear as a civil party in a possible lawsuit. Politicians from left-to-right parties in Rome, who are in the midst of an election campaign, also expressed their horror at the crime and their condolences to the bereaved. (spl/dpa) © dpa