Florence mayor arrests two activists who were throwing paint at town hall

The mayor of the Italian city of Florence, Dario Nardelleconfronted and arrested two environmental activists as they threw orange paint on the facade of the historic building Vecchio Palaceseat of the town hall.

“The attack on art, culture and beauty, defenseless against violence and born for the good of humanity, can never justify the fight for a cause, even if it can be shared”, has justified the mayor on his social networks.

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The activists, a boy and a girl, stood in front of this building, an architectural symbol and more than eight centuries old, and began to throw orange paint against its walls, behind the copy of the sculpture of the David of Michelangelo.

At this moment, they were joined running by the alderman, accompanied by two municipal policemen, who shouted: “What are they doing?”by giving them a few nudges, as shown in a video broadcast by local media.

One of them, already reduced by the Police, explained that his action consisted in “punishing a building symbol of power”, while he was reprimanded by passers-by. A young man shouted at him that “they weren’t going to change the world” with these initiatives.

The demonstration took place in broad daylight and was jeered and booed by the many tourists passing by.

The two young men were arrested and dragged to the police station because they refused to walk.

Immediately afterwards, the cleaning work on this building began, led by the mayor himself, who together with other residents took care of scrubbing the stone of the building with a brush.

The organization The last generation He explained in a statement that the action is a response to the withdrawal by the Italian Senate of certain amendments which were to repeal a series of subsidies granted to companies “harmful to the environment”.

“The town hall of Florence continues to take measures incompatible with the need to reduce polluting emissions given the use of fossil energy sources”, denounces the group.

This is not the first time that these activists have attacked heritage with actions like these. Last November, the soup was tossed in a can of Van Gogh of a temporary exhibition in Rome and smeared with paint on “Finger”of Maurizio Cattelan in front of the Milan Stock Exchange or the equestrian sculpture of Vittorio Emanuele II in front of the Duomo or the cathedral of this city.

Two activists are also on trial by the Vatican Court for having damaged the base of this sculpture of the Laocoon during a demonstration and could be sentenced to a prison term of one month to three years and a fine of around 3,000 euros.

Source: EFE

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