Woman grabs Italy's Salvini, rips shirt, breaks rosary

A woman grabbed hold of Italian politician Matteo Salvini on Wednesday as he campaigned for his anti-immigrant League party in the central region of Tuscany, tearing his shirt and ripping two rosaries from his neck.

A woman grabbed hold of Italian politician Matteo Salvini on Wednesday as he campaigned for his anti-immigrant League party in the central region of Tuscany, tearing his shirt and ripping two rosaries from his neck. Video posted on social media showed the woman grabbing Salvini and shouting at him just after he arrived in the town of Pontassieve, near Florence, for a rally ahead of regional elections slated for Sept. 20-21.

The woman was immediately pulled away by police. Local media said she was a 29-year-old originally from Congo. Local police said the woman had been cautioned and was not arrested. They declined to name her. Salvini, head of the League party who promotes policies aimed at preventing migrants from entering Italy, showed his torn shirt and damaged rosaries in a Facebook post.

"She came towards me (and said) 'Damn you'. She ripped my shirt. You can buy shirts. What upset me is that she pulled off and basically broke two rosaries that I wore, hidden, around my neck," he said. "I respond to this anger with a smile and with work. Long live the Italy of women and men who believe in freedom, serenity and work," he said in a subsequent statement.

Salvini served as interior minister for a year up until August 2019, during which time he focused much energy on preventing migrant boats from reaching Italy. He is due to go on trial next month over accusations that he illegally detained migrants at sea while waiting for other EU states to agree to take them in. He denies the charge.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)