Controversy in Italy over a New Year's Eve party with a person injured by a shot from the gun of a Meloni deputy

The first political uproar of the year in Italy for Giorgia Meloni has to do with a stray bullet that came out—no one has yet clarified how—from the gun of a deputy of the Brothers of Italy, the party led by the prime minister, and ended up wounding him, in a mild manner, to the son-in-law of an escort of the Undersecretary of State for Justice at a New Year's Eve party. The Prosecutor's Office is investigating the incident and the opposition demands the intervention of the head of Government to clarify what happened.

Early morning on January 1st. Rosazza, a small mountain town of 90 inhabitants in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Several people are participating in a New Year's Eve party when, suddenly, a shot is heard and a man is wounded in the leg. The victim is the son-in-law of one of the bodyguards of the Undersecretary of State for Justice, Andrea Delmastro, and the gun is owned by the Brother of Italy deputy Emmanuele Pozzolo, although he assures that he never pulled the trigger. In the first moments of confusion, those present doubt whether it was a firecracker or whether it was really a firearm.

The injured man, 31 years old, was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital and was discharged a few hours later. According to the first reconstructions, the shot came from a revolver, a North American Arms LR22, which Pozzolo legally owns and which he was showing to some of those present. The Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation to clarify what happened.

“I confirm that the shot was accidental, but it was not me who shot,” said the deputy, who has not mentioned who the author was. The newspaper The Republic points out that the deputy has undergone a test to determine if there is gunpowder residue on his hands, but has refused to hand over to the investigators the clothes he was wearing at the time of the events, as requested by the Prosecutor's Office, availing himself of immunity parliamentary If prosecutors request other investigations such as a record of the address or calls, they must request authorization from Parliament.

The media indicate that the responsibility for what happened would fall on Pozzolo, who had the duty to guard in the safest possible way the weapon that he was authorized to carry for his personal defense.

Pozzolo was not one of the guests at the party, which included several members of the Brothers of Italy. Among the thirty guests was also Francesca Delmastro, sister of the undersecretary and mayor of Rosazza. The deputy, originally from a neighboring town, passed in front of the celebration venue, recognized the cars parked at the door and asked permission to enter to say hello. Shortly after, the shot was heard.

The Undersecretary of Justice assures that at that moment he had gone to take something to the car and was not at the scene of the events, so he did not see what happened. “My escort wanted me to leave right away, but I told him I wanted to know what had happened to the boy and make sure how he was doing. They had placed him on the table in the middle of the hallway. He was injured in the leg. He's 31 years old. He told me that he had won the best worker of the year award and that he hoped to win it again. And he added: 'I'm sorry for you, that you're going to get into trouble and you weren't even in the room,' explained Undersecretary Delmastro in an interview with The Republic. He has also declared himself “stunned” by the fact that his party colleague went to a party armed. “It's a rarity, of course. “I told him to come, but I never imagined that he would bring a weapon,” he said.

At the moment, it is unknown why the deputy was armed. According to local media, Meloni's party is trying to clarify whether there are justified reasons for personal security.

This is the first term as a deputy for Pozzolo, known in local politics for his anti-vaccine positions during the pandemic. He has also been a member of the far-right Northern League (when the party was still called that, before becoming simply the League). His pro-gun statements can still be found on social media, such as one from 2015, after a mass shooting at a school in Oregon. “For Obama, the blame always lies with the guns. However, I have never seen a gun that fires itself,” he said then.

The incident has roiled politics. The opposition, led by the progressive Democratic Party (PD), has called for Delmastro's resignation and Meloni's intervention to “immediately clarify” the incident. “These incompetents are a danger to the safety of those around them, not to mention national security. Let Giorgia Meloni clarify what measures he plans to take against Deputy Pozzolo, who goes to parties with a loaded gun in his pocket and ends up injuring a person,” noted the leader of the party, Elly Schlein.

“Gunsling parliamentarian”

Green spokesman Angelo Bonelli has also called for Delmastro to resign. And Matteo Renzi, leader of the centrist Italia Viva, has criticized the “incapacity” of the government of the far-right Meloni. “Meloni's is not a ruling class: they are inadequate, incapable, insurmountable. And dangerous, especially for themselves. If this is how they start the year, imagine what could happen in 2024. While waiting for the gunman deputy's weapons to be taken away, I hope Delmastro leaves the Government as soon as possible,” the former prime minister wrote on his networks. . And he asked himself: “What were the bodyguards doing at the party? And the relatives of the escort agents? And above all: why bring weapons to the New Year's Eve party in the presence of deputies and members of the Government? “We were only missing the gunman parliamentarian,” the 5 Star Movement has ironically stated.

Brothers of Italy has downplayed an incident that in its opinion has “no political relevance.” The party has limited itself to saying that “this is a fact on which the competent authorities will carry out due verifications to determine responsibilities.” And he has described as “absurd the attempt to transform what happened into a political case to attack the Brothers of Italy.”

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