Luigi Brugnaro, the right-wing mayor of Venice, Italy has publicly stated anyone who yells “Allahu akbar” in St Mark’s Square will be shot. This in the wake of the Barcelona attack where 13 people were killed when a terrorist drove a van into pedestrians.
“We keep our guard up,” he said. “If anyone runs into St Mark’s Square shouting ‘Allahu akbar’, we will take him down.
“A year ago I said after four steps, now after three. I will say it in Venetian: ‘Ghe sparemo’ [We will shoot him].”
“In contrast with Barcelona, where they had not set up protection, we keep our guard up,” Mr. Brugnaro was quoted as saying. “If anyone runs into St. Mark’s Square shouting ‘Allahu akbar,’ we will take him down. A year ago I said after four steps, now after three. I will say it in Venetian: ‘Ghe Sparemo’ [We will shoot him].”
“In Venice, we arrested four terrorists who wanted to blow up the Rialto Bridge, saying they wanted to go to Allah. But we’ll send them straight to Allah before they can do any damage,” he added, Business Insider UK reported.
As reported by The Times:
Mr Brugnaro proudly recalled the arrest in Venice in March of four suspected Kosovan jihadists who allegedly planned to kill hundreds of tourists by blowing up the Rialto bridge.
“They wanted to go to Allah. But we’ll send them straight to Allah before they can do any damage,” he said.
After he gave his speech at a conference in Rimini, in the northeastern Emilia-Romagna region, Dario Nardella, the centre-left mayor of Florence, rushed up to Mr Brugnaro shouting ‘Allahu akbar!’ and laughing. He later apologised on Facebook for the joke.
Mr Brugnaro stuck to his guns after his speech, claiming, “I have never been politically correct, I am incorrect”.
“I would shoot, we would shoot,” he added. “If you want to kill me, maybe I will defend myself.”