Lazio Fan, Gabriele Sandri from Rome, Shot Dead Today; Riots Break Out
[singlepic=18,260,195,right]Gabriele Sandri, a well-known DJ from Rome and a Lazio supporter, was shot dead by the police this morning at a gas station in Badia al Pino, Arezzo. This followed an incident in which a group of Lazio ultras had attacked Juventus fans in their cars, the latter appealing for help from passing police; the shooting that followed is being reported by the media as accidental.
Today’s Lazio-Inter game has been postponed, and ultras are protesting throughout the country — rumours are circulating the internet wildly already, with claims that Sandri was shot multiple times. The Atalanta v Milan game was stopped due to fans breaking down a glass barrier, and Lazio fans have unfurled banners reading “Assassini, assassini” against the police. Many ultras are furious the rest of the day’s games were only delayed for fifteen minutes rather than cancelled altogether.
This may well all get a lot worse before it gets better. Two bloggers are on the case, Martha from the Italy Offside and in Italy, Spangly Princess.
Update: Be sure to read the comments below, with updates coming in from readers ursus and Ben.
Update 2: As I feared, things did get a lot worse: rioting broke out in Rome. Go read Spangles on the latest from Italy.
And again, “politics not football”:
Trouble started around 18h in the residential quarter on the other side of the river at the local headquarters of the squadra mobile (rapid response investigative police, who often deal with football related criminal activity). The crowd, variously estimated at from 200 to 1000 people, moved off when their initial siege was held off, rampaging around the area and finally crossing over to the stadium where they attacked the headquarters of CONI, the governing body for all sports in Italy. An incendiary device was thrown into the building, windows were smashed, vehicles and wheelie bins were overturned and set on fire, and according to some reports several hundred people broke into the building. Dozens of policemen and carabinieri have been treated for injuries of varying gravity.
It was, in essence, the pre- and post-match violence of a super fraught fixture, only without the match.
Driving past half an hour ago, the streets are littered with rubble, wrenched up road signs and abandoned 2m metal poles used as weapons. Overturned bins lie in the road. Fully armed riot police are still conspicuous by their presence. The whole area is lit up like an even less salubrious Blackpool - the stadium floodlights are on full, and as we drove northwards from the centre we ould say the whole area glowing a fierce white. The place was eerily empty of non-police. But it looked like a war zone.
Update 3: Gramsci’s Kingdom discusses the remarkably widespread and rapid response to the events, pointing to the failure of Italian state as the root cause of the rioting. As he puts it, “Today’s events, fundamentally, are not about football. They are about a society in deep, deep trouble. No one trusts authority. No one believes that any guilty party will be punished. And, without the reassurance that justice will be done, they take matters into their own hands.”
Related posts:
16 Comments
Trackbacks
- Pitch Invasion · More on the Aftermath of Gabriele Sandri’s Death and the Riots in Italy
- Pitch Invasion · Gabriele Sandri’s Funeral
A few sad updates.
Atalanta-Milan was suspended after only 7 minutes, after the clashes between fans and the police outside the ground were matched by attempts by some of the Atalanta ultras to break through the plexiglas barrier separating them from police guarding the pitch.
A Serie C1 game in Taranto was suspended in the second half, after the locals started pelting the police with rocks.
There have been anti-police protests in Milan, Turin, and Florence (and no doubt elsewhere).
The most reliable reports are indicating that the fatal shot was an error of some sort after the cop had fired a shot into the air in an attempt to separate the two groups, but investigations continue.
The police association has asked that all matches that can be cancelled be cancelled, and I would not be surprised if Roma-Cagliari does not go forward tonight.
In my view, it is scandalous that the other Serie A games are going on.
I am also very concerned over this tragic incident being used for political purposes, which I am afraid is inevitable.
Thanks for the updates ursus. What terrible news this is, and I hope the situation can be contained.
This was discussed briefly elsewhere, but has there been an explanation yet on why the games are still going on?
Tom, something is going on with the comments. I’ve tried three, but they just aren’t taking.
Sorry ursus, for some reason your comment was caught by my spam filter. You shouldn’t have a problem any more.
It seems to be working better with Firefox.
The matches went forward because of a judgment by the police and football authorities that suspending matches for which people had already gotten to the ground or were on their way risked inciting more trouble.
Events seem to have proven that judgment to have been wrong. We now have reports of a firecracker that has injured a caribinere at a Eccelenza match in the south, which has also been suspended.
A major focus will be on what happened in Bergamo, where after clashes between both sets of supporters and the police outside of the ground; the Atalanta curva decided to try to get the game stopped at any cost. At least five flares were thrown onto the pitch during the warmup and first few minutes of play, and they ultimately got their wish when they were able to create two holes in the plexiglass with an improvised battering ram. At least one fight broke out in another part of the stadium between guys who wanted to suspend the match and those who wanted them to play. Two of the Atalanta players came over to the Curva to try to get them to calm down, but to no real effect. The referee then took the teams off the field.
Roma-Cagliari has been cancelled by the FIGC at the request of the local police.
The Arezzo district attorney just concluded a very defensive press conference at which he claimed that both shots were “in the air” but that they can’t do a trajectory analysis asthey haven’t found the bullet or completed their inquiries with the cops involved.
The fact that it appears that the fatal shot came from 30 to 60 metres away, and hit the guy in the back of the neck make the “in the air” claim a bit hard to take seriously. It is starting to look as if the cop was trying to stop a car that was leaving a fight that was already over.
The family and lawyer of the guy who was killed are accusing the police of murder.
And the FICG President has suggested a complete ban on travelling support.
This is just getting worse.
Probably best to delete the one above at this point. The one directly above this is slightly more current.
GLI AMICI - “L’agente ha sparato da lontano, saranno stati trenta metri. E quando era già tutto finito”. Questo il tragico racconto degli amici di Gabriele Sandri….
The agent shot from 30 meters away. And when it was already finished. This is the tragic tale from the friends of Gabriele Sandri.
“È vero che c’è stato un diverbio con alcuni juventini - hanno detto ancora - ma quando sono intervenuti gli agenti la cosa era già rientrata. Senza problemi. E invece quell’agente ha sparato dalla corsia opposta…”.
It’s true that there was an altercation with Juventus fans, but when the police intervened the issue was already settled. Without problems. And instead, the agent shot from the other side of the road.
È iniziato il pellegrinaggio di amici e conoscenti sotto casa di Gabriele Sandri, nel quartiere Balduina a Roma. I primi ad arrivare sono stati un ragazzo e due ragazze, una delle quali in lacrime. I tre, che sono apparsi molto turbati, hanno lasciato di fronte alla porta di casa di Sandri due mazzi di fiori. Su un biglietto c’è scritto: “nemici in campo, amici per strada. Bella, Gabriè”.
The pilgrimage of friends has begun to visit Gabriele’s home. The first to arrive left a card that said “enemies in the stadium, friends on the street. Bella, Gabriè”.
Looks like a lot of violence near the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. A number of wounded fans and cops, bombs and fireworks going off around the stadium.
There have been pretty serious disturbances involving a group of several hundred to a thousand “ultras” in Rome. An explosive device was thrown into CONI* headquarters by the Olimpico (where windows and other fixtures have been broken and the reception area trashed), traffic has been blocked at several points, 200 people are reported to have broken into the Olimpico, dumpsters are being set on fire, and there have been some running battles with the police, who are now getting reinforcements.
*The Italian National Olympic Committee, which is the ultimate governing body for all sport in the country, including football.
I went past the Olimpico tonight after the violence had finished and it looked like a war zone - people pulling metal road signs up to use as weapons, upended vehicles and bins, shattered glass everywhere, total chaos. The repercussions will be horrendous on this, I am certain.
Ursus is correct that the official line is that matches went ahead because to cancel just a few hours before kick off would make the situation worse. But it’s hard to avoid the suspicion that there was a financial motive. And perhaps a wilful underestimation on the part of some authorities of just how deep-seated and virulent the hatred of the police is in this country. Ultras hate the police at the best of times. When a policeman has just killed a fellow fan, what exactly did anyone think was going to happen today?
And ta for the links!
This is moving incredibly quickly, but some quick updates.
Repubblica is carrying a story that is the first one that makes some sense to me on the basis of the information we currently have.
That of course doesn’t mean that it is true, but what it says is that the cop didn’t even know about the purported fight on the other side of the autostrada. All that he saw was a commotion accompanied by shouting, and then a car leaving the service area at speed. Thinking that there had been a robbery at the station, he turned on his siren to get the car’s attention, when they didn’t stop, he fired twice.
According to Repubblica’s sources, that version was known to the authorities soon after the incident, and then affirmatively obscured by everything they have said since.
Shortly after that story went up on the web, it was reported that the cop had been put under formal investigation for the Italian equivalent of manslaughter (not murder) and assigned to desk duty.
And less than an hour later, the chief of police in Arezzo began a press conference in which he is basically contradicting everything he said last night.
The highlight so far is the statement that the cop “probably aimed at the tyres, but doing so was very dangerous”. He has also said that while the police currently intend to challenge the manslaughter charge, “there may be an evolution of that position”.
There is also an eyewitness who has told Repubblica that he saw the cop fire with the gun with both hands and his arms fully extended.
Everything that has come out this morning indicates that the Repubblica sources almost certainly got it right, as least as to the facts. Only the cop himself can explain why he fired as he did.
The FIGC has just announced that the Serie B and C games scheduled for next weekend will be rescheduled to another date. Serie A was already off because of the national team’s match against the Scots.
The curvae at Bergamo and Taranto are likely to be closed for several matches once play resumes, and prefects are being given additional power to close stands, impose restrictions on travelling fans and even suspend matches.
There have also been some arrests in Bergamo, and suggestions that the charges against the cop may be raised to voluntary manslaughter.
Just no need for this type of think in the game. Very sad indeed.
RIP