A man attacked Giuseppe Conte, head of the Italian government during the Covid-19 pandemic, on Friday May 5, blaming him for confinement and wearing a mask, his movement said.
While in Massa, Tuscany (Center-West), to participate in an electoral meeting, the leader of the 5 Star Movement (M5S) “was attacked by an antivax activist” who punched him in the face insulting him, wrote the M5S on Facebook. The man blamed him for implementing lockdown and physical distancing measures from 2020, according to media reports. The assailant was then subdued and taken away by the police.
“The protest is legitimate, but this violent demonstration is outside the democratic framework,” commented Giuseppe Conte. The incumbent Chief Executive, Giorgia Meloni, expressed her “solidarity” in a statement. “Any form of violence must be condemned without hesitation. The opposition must remain cordial and respectful of individuals and political groups. »
President of the Italian Council from June 2018 to February 2021, Giuseppe Conte had to manage the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in February 2020 in northern Italy, the first country in Europe to be affected. It killed nearly 190,000 people there, according to the Ministry of Health.
Mr. Conte has implemented drastic containment measures and imposed the wearing of masks. These measures had severely limited the movement of Italians for months, forced many workers to stay at home and plunged the country into economic slump.
Mr. Conte is nevertheless under investigation for possible negligence. The public prosecutor’s office in Bergamo, a northern Lombard city, suspects him and other members of his government of having underestimated the spread of the virus.
