Saying Goodbye

By: Martha | November 14th, 2007

Mourners.

Gabriele Sandri’s funeral was held in Rome today, attended by friends and family and thousands upon thousands of people who didn’t know him, from Francesco Totti, the entire Lazio team and Rome Mayer Walter Veltroni, to football supporters from all over the peninsula, clad in scarves and hats, displaying their team colors. Most of them stood in the rain outside the church, chanting for “Justice” singing Lazio songs, and waiting for their chance to pay tribute when Sandri’s coffin left the building.

There was not a policeman in sight.

Scroll down for the more recent news; this post is updated with new developments.

•The indispensable Spangly Princess offers a summary of the arrests so far, including the troubling information that one of the Interisti taken into custody in Milan has ties to Forza Nuova, the far-right group that was so involved with what happened in Catania in February.

•A gallery of the graffiti that has gone up since Sandri’s death. The slogan “1000 Racitis” has been appearing all over Italy, and means the obvious: 1000 more policeman will die.

•About 100 Lazio Ultras marched from the funeral to the Olympico, where they gathered under the Curva Nord for a moment of silence and what sounds like a lot of singing. So far, everything has been peaceful. (Added 910am EST)

•Fascist and/or Roman salutes outside the funeral. (Added 920am; edited 1035am EST)

•The FIGC will have a day of meetings tomorrow to define the conditions under which Serie A will resume a week from Sunday; public safety is the obvious goal. (Added 940am EST)

•Spangly Princess went to the funeral. (Added 11am EST)

•The people in both cars involved in the incident that led to Sandri’s death have been interviewed by the authorities; they have testified that there wasn’t more than a heated argument between the groups of fans, and it seems the car of Juve supporters may even have been gone by the time Sandri was shot. Additionally, the autopsy has confirmed that the bullet that killed him came from a point level with his head, suggesting that the stories told by the police are false; at the moment the charge facing the shooter is still manslaughter, but that could change. (Added 145pm EST)

•The Italian government have announced the creation of an agency “dedicated to football stadia;” a primary goal will be bringing the grounds to modern standards. Despite losing out on its bid to host Euro 2012, the government still has €20 million set aside to upgrade the grounds around the country. (Added 455pm EST)

•Atalanta chairman Ivan Ruggeri is disgusted by the lack of support from other administrators for his strong response to Sunday’s events (he’s said he wants to close the home Curva forever), and is threatening to close the club down entirely in protest. (Added 500pm EST)

•All eight of those arrested during the trouble in Milan on Sunday have been released; one received a stadium ban. (Added 500pm EST)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15

•It’s been widely reported that Luigi Spaccarotella, the man who shot Sandri, will be charged with murder rather than manslaughter, despite his repeated insistance that he didn’t aim at the victim. (Added 830am EST)

•The FIGC have confirmed that Serie A will resume after the international break, as scheduled. Update: Channel 4’s article has now changed; the restart is NOT officially confirmed. (Added 1000am; edited 1250pm EST)

•Supporters of the following Serie A teams are banned from their team’s away matches during Round 13: Atalanta, Catania Milan, Roma, Sampdoria and Torino; a decision has not yet been made regarding Napoli. (Added 1250pm EST)

Some Related Serie A Posts:

Category: Serie A

« News Round-Up As Italy Gets a Hideous New Kit | Home | Karim Benzema Making Eyes at Milan (Among Others) »

Arian

Now this is bull$hit! Roma fans are banned and Napoli ones are not...
Cerberus

I think that if the angle is right on the investigation then I think the policeman's fate will have been more screwed by the way he and his fellow policemen lied about it afterwards.

If he had just admitted to the actual facts whatever they were he could have gotten a mitigated sentence. In this case, I'd expect most juries available will give him maximum sentence "as an example."

Sad, yes. Possibly cruelly fatal and unfair, but definitely the result of trying to hide from that blame and giving the anti-police crowd a lot of ammunition.

I hope upon hope that this leads to the much needed reforms in the political system, police departments, and the ultras which will help to prevent the various massive problems which have allowed this to serve as such a boiling point. And I think it will have to occur in all of those groups to be meaningful.
Martha

I agree with you, Roberto -- he's in a bad, bad spot.

And thanks for the clarification, SP.
roberto

now let's just say here that for one moment Luigi did not aim at Gabriele and it was an accident, given all the publicity (and expectably so), proponents and protagonists (clubs and tifosi)... will he get a fair trial? or will those screaming for his blood influence the proceedings? ... tough call
SpanglyPrincess

The charge of omocidio volontario I think corresponds to 2nd or 3rd degree murder in the US system, though I am obviously not an expert on US law. In the UK it would just count as murder, we don't have those distinctions.
mele419

Here we go... Re-upped to another server:
http://img340.imageshack.us/im...
Martha

Thank you, Traian and DJL, I'm glad it's been useful. (And DJL, you didn't sound condescending at all.)

mele, the link's not working -- can you try again? (Is it this one?)
mele419

Found this memorial mural to Gabriele... Its really good actually.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/...
Traian

Great coverage, Martha! Keep up the good work.
DJL

Martha,
I didn't mean to come across as condescending, and I certainly understand why some would label the salute both fascist (the whole world) and purely Roman (Italian news). Not sure which group is being more naive, but at any rate, its one of those nuances of Italian culture that lies beneath the surface.

Thanks for your updates.
Martha

No way! That's incredibly random, wow. (And I stole the picture from La Repubblica, so you're everywhere, not just here.)

I'll keep an eye out for your post about the funeral and will link; your coverage has been fantastic, as it was in February.
SpanglyPrincess

haha Martha I am in your photo!! how funny. bottom right, front row, facing left (and pulling a hideous expression) next to a guy in blue.
Martha

It's complicated, isn't it DJL? Because the salute has a long history that has nothing to with fascism or Nazis, but the use of it by those groups has pretty much redefined how the world interprets it; no matter what's in the heads of those making the action (something, I think, which can be debated in cases like this, particularly give the political leanings of some of Lazio's Ultra groups). I will clarify the post, with a link to the wikipedia entry, thanks.
DJL

While the fascists adopted it, the Roman salute (and its association with Rome) has been around since the mid-1700s.

Please look up "Roman salute" when you get a chance.