Spada indicted for RAI journo attack

Roberto Spada

ROME - Announced Tuesday, Roberto Spada, the alleged mafioso who head butted the RAI journalist on camera, is due to go to trial March 30.

 Spada, alleged member of the Spada clan in Ostia, attacked RAI journalist Daniele Piervincenzi and Edoardo Anselmi on Nov. 7. Spada head butted Piervincenzi, breaking his nose, before beating him with a pipe as he chased the pair away.

 Arrested shortly after, Spada and his accomplice in the crime Ruben Nelson Del Puerto will be tried for personal injury and private violence with the aggravating of the Mafia method. Given the, now viral, camera footage of the attack, it seems unlikely that Spada will go unpunished.

 Gathered in solidarity for the 423 journalists who reported intimidation last year outside the courthouse were members from the organisations Article 21, the Order of Journalists, and FNSI.

 Piervincenzi  said, "I do not feel any grudge against Roberto Spada. My concern goes to the area that needs attention. Ostia should not be abandoned.”

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