Italy, Senegal: Strong Reactions Follow Murder of 2 Senegalese Men in Florence · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

[All links forward to articles in French, unless otherwise stated]
On December 14, 2011, at the initiative of Mayor Matteo Renzi, the City of Florence, Italy, decided to suspend all commercial activity for ten minutes as a protest against racism. Shop owners closed their stores for the entire day in solidarity. The catalyst for these actions? A tragic event that took place in the day  before.
On December 13, Gianluca Casseri, a 50 year-old hunter, far-right activist and author of books denying the Holocaust, opened fired on a group of Senegalese in two outdoor markets in Florence. The horrific event resulted in the death of two street vendors from Senegal, as well as the perpetrator of the crime, who committed suicide after a brief shoot-out with police. The incident also left three other Africans injured and hospitalized in critical condition.
Anti-racism demonstration in Florence by Antonella Beccaria on Flickr (CC-NC SA-2.0)
According to  reports of the incident published in the media, the incident created chaos and fear in the very heart of Florence. It also provoked vehement reactions and speculation as to the motives behind Casseri's killing of two strangers. Was this a case of racism or insanity?
A video  reviews the homicide and provides one Senegalese man's reactions; in his opinion, this was a case of racism. The video also features comments from members of a far-right group called Casapound, which counted Casseri among its enthusiasts.
Tiziano Rugi commented [it] on the event reporternuovo.it:
Il giorno dopo la strage di Firenze, restano solo mazzi di fiori e  ceri dove ieri sono morti due venditori ambulanti senegalesi. Lì, in  una delle bancarelle del mercatino di piazza Dalmazia tutti i giorni,  dalle otto del mattino fino a tarda sera, lavoravano Samb Modou e Diop  Mor. Uccisi dall’odio razziale di Gianluca  Casseri, cinquantenne pistoiese vicino agli ambienti di estrema destra   che credeva nella purezza della razza bianca.
Samu gives his opinion  [it] in the comment section of  a blog post about the events posted on qn.quotidiano.net:
Provo  orrore per quello che è successo, ma la situazione immigrati in Italia  sta diventando insostenibile e se oggi a fare certe cose è un pazzo  fanatico,un caso isolato, domani, tra qualche anno, non so se certi  avvenimenti succederanno per mano di pazzi. A noi italiani ci viene  chiesto sempre di più e vediamo diminuire i benefici e le nostre  ricchezze,la nostra libertà, i nostri figli non trovano lavoro, e questi  immigrati vengono quà e fanno ciò che vogliono, impunemente, alla luce  del giorno; ”poverini devono pur mangiare” dicono i soliti buonisti.  Bene, quando poverini come loro lo diventeremo anche noi, e se continua  così non ci vorranno tanti anni perchè questo si verifichi, allora  diventerà una guerra tra poveri e non sò come andrà a finire, penso  molto male.
Contrasting opinions were posted in the comments section. One commenter compared the event to a massacre that took place in Liège, Belgium on the very same day, although Maria 1 did not agree with the comparison [it]:
Non  mi meraviglio che tu non capisca in cosa consista la differenza: il  PAZZO in Belgio ha sparato sulla folla , il PAZZO RAZZISTA a Firenze ha  sparato SOLO su persone con la pelle nera!!!
An anoymous commenter agreed [it]:
credo  di no. ma poverini l'unica cosa che gli dice il cervello è che la  violenza sia il giusto mezzo per evadere dall'ignoranza e dalla loro  depressione mentale.
FATE LA VITA DA IMMIGRATO IN ITALIA PER UN SOLO MESE, poi vediamo da che parte state!
o forse credete che solo per essere nati nella parte “fortunata” del pianeta avete più diritti o sentimenti degli altri?
I don't think so…poor people…but the only thing his brain told him was that violence is the way out of ignorance and a mentally depressive state.
TRY LIVING IN AN IMMIGRANT'S SHOES IN ITALY FOR JUST ONE MONTH and then we'll see whose side you're on. Or maybe you think that because you were born as “one of the planet's lucky” you have more rights or feelings then the less-lucky?
On his Facebook page, which has more than 1.5 million fans,  Roberto Saviano, author of the best-seller Gomorra, which inspired a major-motion picture, wrote [it]:
La morte di Samb e Diop a Firenze mi ha ricordato la strage dei ragazzi africani a Castelvolturno di tre anni fa. Ricordo anche, come fosse ora, la morte di Jarry Masslo a Villa Literno nel 1989 e la strage di Pescopagano nel 1990… l'Italia è il Paese europeo con più stragi di africani e questo dovrebbe farci riflettere.
In Dakar, Senegal, an Italian sociologist and expatriate found an original way  to present her apologies to the Senegalese people. According to a video report by Serigne Diaw on the web site leral.net:
Chiara Barisson, an Italian sociologist based in Senegal, handed out 200 flyers in the streets of Sandaga as a way of offering her condolences and apologies, not only to the families of the victims killed in Florence, but to the Senegalese people as a whole. Surrounded by her Italian friends, she insisted on saying “I'm sorry” for the racist act, said The Observateur. Shop owners were said to be very touched by the sociologist's gesture.
However this comment on the video from de  schwarzeraal [en] puts a different spin on the murderer's act:
Africans from the Ivory Coast have been known to burn their Senegalese neighbors at the stake; one Senegalese man killed an African from Mali over garbage and God knows what else while pretending to be in charge… in the street, a Malian killed a man from Senegal over a place in front of a TV screen, etc…crazy people are everywhere…
On December 17, the outdoor markets of several Italian cities organized protest marches, as reported [it] in one opinion piece on the blog corriereimmigrazione:
La manifestazione, che si svolgerà in  contemporanea in varie città, sarà l'occasione per rilanciare i problemi  che attualmente vivono le comunità migranti in Italia: “il bisogno di  una nuova sanatoria, la risoluzione del problema delle truffe, il  rifiuto al permesso di soggiorno a punti, il diritto al voto e alla  cittadinanza per i figli degli immigrati, la problematica di chi è  scappato della guerra in Libia e la denuncia dei centri di detenzione  come luoghi da chiudere”. L'evento sarà inoltre occasione per iniziare  il cammino che porterà verso il primo marzo 2012, lo sciopero degli  stranieri
After Milan, protests are scheduled to take place in Caltagirone, Messine, Florence, Rome, Imola, Legnano and Cinisello Balsamo, in front of CARA di Mineo (CT).
On Twitter, @Doubangar, Félicité Doubangar offered her impression of the number of participants who turned out in Florence:
And this report appeared on the Senegal 24.7 Facebook page:
Senegalese men killed in Florence: protest against racism — At least 10,000 people marched last Saturday in protest against racism in Florence (centre) where a far-right activist shot and killed two street vendors of Senegalese origin last Tuesday, injuring three others.
We want to ring in a new era of hope, so that our two brothers didn't die for nothing, a spokesperson from the Senegalese community, Mr. Pape Diaw, declared to the press.
We must work harder for peaceful coexistence and respect. It has to become a real battle, and not just a façade, he added.
The number of protesters was estimated to be about 10,000, according to police; the figure 12,000 was reported by protest organizers.
Many wondered whether this was a case of political exploitation or proof of compassion. blogunugalsene.com published [fr] posted the following update:
As this goes to press, M Aïssata Tall Sall is taking part in the protest in Florence, to pay tribute to the memory of the two murdered Senegalese men, with the expected presence of the Italian Prime Minister, the President of the Regional Council, the Democratic Party leader (major opposition to the current governing party). The lawyer hired by the Socialist Senegalese party will head up a pool of French and American lawyers who will defend the victims. Tomorrow, December 18th, before leaving Italy, she is scheduled to meet with other Italian lawyers who will also join the pool.
The Italian authorities reacted with strong statements and actions to the tragedy, as did the Senegalese community and Italian civil society.