The mayor of Florence who attacked an activist explains his stance

Explanations for his extreme reaction, which caused a painful impression and a number of critical comments, were given by Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, who attacked a climate activist who spray-painted the background orange Palazzo Vecchio.

As Dario Nardella reported, he reacted instinctively, being enraged, to the “attempted vandalism of the 13th century palace-fortress. However, as he notes, because of his position, he shouldn’t have reacted that waybut he should show more restraint.

In the related video, Dario Nardella appears to interrupts his interview and yes anyway, he runs towards the activistgrabbing him, pushing him and yelling at him “what the f@t@ are you doing…”

Later the mayor of the historic city in a video showing him on the scaffolding, as part of the work to remove the paint, is seen sayingi “barbarians… uncivilized…”.

“I used strong expressions because I felt, like many others who were in the Piazza della Signoria, disgust and anger. Because of my institutional status, I should not have spoken to the young man like that…Dario Nardella said on Twitter and continued:

“I reacted instinctively. As mayor of Florence I love her not only with my mind but also with my heart and this time heart and instinct prevailed. The instinct of a father or mother of a family who thinks only of defending the home of all of us, the Palazzo Vecchio.”

“I experienced this violence as an attempt to injure our history” continued Nardella, stressing that even a common battle that humanity must fight does not justify attacks on a people’s heritage. The mayor concluded by sending a message to the activists that, as a father of three, he fully shares their concern for the environment and called on them to work together with the institutions so that there is hope for meaningful change.