by InTrieste
According to the local newspaper Il Piccolo, clashes broke out Tuesday evening in Trieste following a commemoration for Almerigo Grilz, the Trieste-born journalist and former political militant who was killed in Mozambique in 1987.
The event, organized by far-right groups, took place on Via Paduina near Viale XX Settembre, outside the former headquarters of the Fronte della Gioventù youth movement. Witnesses reported that several dozen participants raised their arms in the Roman salute while chanting, “Honor to comrade Almerigo Grilz — Present,” in a ceremony resembling a traditional fascist memorial.
Roughly 40 counterprotesters gathered nearby and were kept apart from the ceremony by riot police and Carabinieri officers.
According to Il Piccolo, tensions escalated after the commemoration ended, when some far-right participants moved toward the counterdemonstrators following verbal insults exchanged between the groups. Scuffles then erupted, with chairs and tables from nearby cafés reportedly used as improvised weapons.
Among those injured was Giampaolo Sarti, a reporter for Il Piccolo, who was struck in the head and later hospitalized. Police used shields to push protesters back along Viale XX Settembre and prevent further contact between the opposing groups. Authorities regained control of the area after about 30 minutes, though tensions remained high.
In a statement posted on social media after the incident, Sarti condemned the attack, saying the city had “heavily changed” and describing what he called “a dark climate” in which some people seek meaning through violence. He also criticized the assault on a journalist “simply doing his job.”
