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New Zealand terror suspect wrote Italian shooter’s name on his gun

A suspected far-right extremist held in connection with a deadly attack in New Zealand wrote the name of an Italian mass shooter on his weapon in apparent homage.

Published: 15 March 2019 17:40 CET
New Zealand terror suspect wrote Italian shooter's name on his gun
New Zealand's flag flies at half mast in Wellington. Photo: Marty Melville/AFP

At least 49 people were killed and another 20 wounded in what has been described as a right-wing terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, which occurred during afternoon prayer on Friday.

The main suspect, who identified himself as Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old man from Australia, is in custody and has been charged with murder. He reportedly published his plans for the attack online, including a self-aggrandising manifesto in which he said he hoped the shooting would “create an atmosphere of fear”.

Luca Traini, an Italian who opened fire on people of African origin in the town of Macerata in February 2018, was one of several names shown scrawled on weapons and ammunition in pictures published on Tarrant's Twitter account in the days before the shooting.

Traini injured six people in his attack, all of whom survived. He is currently serving 12 years in prison for racially motivated violence.

Police discovered far-right propaganda, including a copy of Mein Kampf, in Traini's home, along with symbols and memorabilia associated with Italian neofascists. 

Traini claimed that he shot his victims in “revenge” for the death of a local woman, Pamela Mastropietro, whose body was found dismembered and stuffed into suitcases days before he attacked. Three Nigerian men were arrested in connection with her death, though no one has yet been convicted of the killing.

READ ALSO: Talking to locals and migrants in Macerata, Italy's immigration flashpoint


Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Traini's lawyer, Giancarlo Giulianelli, on Friday condemned the “cruel attack” in Christchurch and said that his client would too. 

“There is absolutely no connection,” Giulianelli said, describing the shooter's invocation of Traini's name as “disconcerting”.

“Fools are born every minute everywhere in the world.”

In the days after Traini's attack, his lawyer reported receiving “messages of solidarity” and offers of financial aid from members of the Italian public who sympathized with the shooter. In Rome, a large banner reading “Onore a Luca Traini” ('Honour to Luca Traini') was photographed on a bridge over the Tiber river.

“It's alarming, but it gives us a sense of what is happening,” commented Giulianelli at the time. Traini's attack came at the height of a toxic election campaign that saw politicians openly using xenophobic rhetoric and outbreaks of violence between extreme-right groups and their antifascist opponents.

READ ALSO: 

Among the other phrases pictured on Tarrant's guns and clips were the names of military commanders who fought battles against Muslims centuries ago, as well as Alexandre Bissonnette, a Canadian man who shot dead six people at a mosque in Quebec City in 2017. 

Tarrant's 70-page manifesto, laden with white power slogans, describes his motives as revenge for terrorism in Europe, and specifically names an 11-year-old Swedish girl Ebba, one of five people killed in a terror attack in Stockholm in 2017.

“When I testified in court, I said I am reminded of my daughter's death all the time and not only when people talk about [the Stockholm attack] but also when similar acts happen in other countries, but I would not even have been able to think that someone would write my daughter's name on a rifle,” her father told The Local Sweden on Friday.


Flowers left for victims of the Christchurch attack. Photo: Marty Melville/AFP

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as “one of New Zealand's darkest days”.

“Many of those who will have been directly affected by this shooting may be migrants to New Zealand, they may even be refugees here. They have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home,” she said.

“They are us. The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. They have no place in New Zealand. There is no place in New Zealand for such acts of extreme and unprecedented violence, which it is clear this act was.”

 

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CRIME

REVEALED: Where in Italy you’re most likely to be a victim of crime

From theft and home burglary to cyber fraud and extortion, the latest figures reveal where in Italy you are most likely to fall victim to crime and the most common types of offences in major cities around the country.

Published: 17 September 2024 11:15 CEST
REVEALED: Where in Italy you're most likely to be a victim of crime

While Italy is among the safest countries in the world – it ranked 33rd out of 163 in the latest Global Peace Index report, right above the UK – crime is still a concern, especially in metropolitan cities and tourist hotspots.

According to the annual crime report from newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, which collated the most recent data from Italy’s Department of Public Security, Milan was the Italian city with the highest crime rate in 2023.

Overall, some 230,394 crimes were reported in the northern metropolis last year, which corresponded to 7,094 offences for every 100,000 residents.

Milan was followed by Italy’s capital, Rome, with 6,071 reported crimes for every 100,000 residents (up by nearly 600 compared to 2022) and Florence, with 6,053.

The top ten was completed by Rimini (6,002 reports for every 100,000 residents), Turin (5,685), Bologna (5,539), Prato (4,887), Imperia (4,838), Venice (4,825) and Livorno (4,743).

At the other end of the spectrum, Oristano, Sardinia, was the Italian city with the lowest crime rate in 2023 as it ‘only’ saw 1,511 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

Oristano was followed by Potenza, Basilicata (1,934) and Treviso, Veneto (2,258).

Single-offence rankings

While the overall crime rate ranking provides a picture of Italy’s major crime hotspots, it doesn’t allow for any insight into the types of offences committed locally, which is why it is worth looking into single-offence rankings. 

Milan, Rome and Rimini (a popular seaside resort on Emilia Romagna’s Adriatic coast) were the Italian cities with the highest theft rates in 2023, with the northern city registering nearly 3,900 reported thefts (furti) for every 100,000 residents and the capital stopping just shy of the 3,500 mark.

Milan was also Italy’s least-safe city when it came to petty theft and pickpocketing, with over 900 such offences reported for every 100,000 residents.

READ ALSO: How bad is pickpocketing in Italy’s major cities?

Florence was the Italian city with the highest robbery rate (rapine), with 136 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

The Tuscan city was followed by Milan (128) and Prato (124).

Outside of big cities and popular tourist destinations, a number of smaller and, perhaps, slightly unassuming Italian cities had their own crime ‘specialisations’ in 2023. 

For instance, Ragusa, Sicily, ranked first in vehicle theft, while Pisa, Tuscany, came in first in reported home burglary offences.

Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia, had the highest sexual assault rate (24 reports for every 100,000 residents) in the country, whereas Crotone ranked first for attempted murder.

READ ALSO: The 8 red flags to look out for to avoid rental scams in Italy

Turin came in first for cyber fraud and online scams, while Isernia, Molise, was Italy’s extortion capital. 

National picture

At a national level, reported crimes were up by 3.8 percent compared to 2022, with online fraud and robbery registering 10.3- and 9.5-percent increases respectively. 

Assault offences also registered a 3.1-percent year-on-year increase, while there were 341 murders in 2023 – up by 13 against 2019. 

According to Marco Dugato, a researcher at the Crime Observatory of Milan’s Cattolica University, the latest increases “must be monitored, particularly for certain types of crime”.

In particular, “the rise of more impulsive, less planned, but more aggressive forms of criminal activity” such as assault and robbery “is of concern”. 

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