San Benedetto del Tronto (Ascoli) – First he took him down with a Greco-Roman wrestling move, then he hit him with several punches and threw him onto the sidewalk. Scenes of madness on Saturday evening on the San Benedetto del Tronto waterfront, where an Iraqi homeless man was beaten by the self-styled entrepreneur Giuseppe Barboni, an experienced fighter because he was blocking traffic in protest against the eviction of his makeshift camp. The 38-year-old, a supporter of Roberto Vannacci and registered with Futuro Nazionale, then showed the video of the assault on social media, helping to make it viral.
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The images have crossed national borders, dividing the web between those who condemn the act and those who have turned Barboni into a ‘social hero’. The Ascoli Piceno Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the episode, while the mayor of San Benedetto del Tronto, Nicola Mozzoni, and the Cgil of Ascoli Piceno describe the images as “intolerable.” For Cgil, “taking justice into your own hands is never an acceptable solution. No one can replace the rule of law.”
Barboni, known locally for his constant search for visibility, has a public profile full of exaggerations: he boasts non-existent honors degrees and luxury companies without employees or financial statements. A regular guest on La Zanzara, where he appears wearing a tricolor mayoral sash despite never having managed to run for office, in recent months he has ridden the slogan of “Zero Tolerance,” approaching Vannacci to seek a political springboard.
The San Benedetto episode is not an isolated case; it fits into a broad and slippery debate that directly touches the narrative of the former General made of self-managed security and patrols already experimented by the Vannacci supporters in many Italian cities. The latest case is that of Florence, with real patrols by Futuro Nazionale volunteers along the city tramway, an episode that reignited the controversies already born last April, again in the Tuscan capital and always on the same theme.
As if that were not enough, the Vannacci project accumulates more troubles. With the latest television slip starring Roberto Vannacci in the In Onda studio on La7. During the debate, the former general began to talk about Antonio Gramsci, citing him for an alleged “Gramscian idea.” Immediate was the clarification by host Luca Telese, who reminded him of the facts: “Gramsci has nothing to do with it, he died during fascism in prison,” which generated the prompt reaction of the Fn leader (“We are pleased”), sparking dismay in the studio.
And the first problems finally arrive on the internal front as well, with the first internal party dispute erupting in Calabria: over 600 members have left the party, wiping out the committees of Lamezia Terme, in protest against the appointment of deputy Domenico Furgiuele as regional coordinator. A symbolic episode also because the Calabrian city was the first where three years ago the Vannacci phenomenon became a political movement. But the veteran militants slammed the door, launching very serious accusations against the national leadership and denouncing the betrayal of the promised values: “Deep bitterness for the appointments imposed from above by the leadership, without taking into account the democratic choices of the various committees.”
