Killed before the eyes of his son for having done what every citizen should do: intervene when something goes wrong. Saturday 11 April Giacomo Bongiorni47 years old, was walking in the center of Massa with his partner, one of his two children and some friends and family. In Piazza Palma, a stone’s throw from the town hall, about ten boys – some visibly drunk – throw bottles and glasses at a shop. It’s just after midnight, instead of pretending nothing happened and speeding up to avoid getting entangled, Bongiorni and his brother-in-law they rebuke the boys and ask them to stop.
This is enough to trigger the group’s fury. Three boys, a seventeen-year-old Italian and two boys aged 19 and 23 of Romanian origin, Eduard Alin Carutasu and Alexandru Miron, savagely hit Bongiorni and his brother-in-law. The seventeen-year-old punches Bongiorni, causing him to fall, the others hit him while he is on the ground. It is his partner who retraces those dramatic moments Sara Tognocchi, the violence is shocking: «My brother Gabriele said “Don’t throw the bottles: there are people who could get hurt” – the woman told the Corriere della Sera – He addressed these kids in a kind way, he told them politely because our mother taught us education.” The small group surrounds Bongiorni and his brother-in-law. «Other young people also arrived. They started hitting them. They didn’t say anything. They just beat them. My brother ended up on the floor and they continued to beat. They never stopped. They beat up Giacomo, I saw him on the ground and them on top. Only when they realized they had killed him did they run away.”
In the meantime – recalls the woman, also 47 years old – some people come to help. «Two young people started giving cardiac massage to Giacomo. I held his head in my hands but blood was coming out of his ears. His son held his hand and said, “Dad, get up. Please get up.” But he didn’t get up, Giacomo remained on the ground.”
Despite the timely intervention of the 118 emergency services, there is nothing that can be done for the 47-year-old. The brother-in-law and the child, in a clear state of shock, are transported to the hospital for checks. «I don’t have any recipes. I don’t want to be a “moralist” the next day, but I can’t treat what happened as one piece of news among others, to be scrolled through on my smartphone and soon forgotten – wrote the bishop of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli, Monsignor Mario Vaccari, in a note – According to initial reconstructions, it is not just a case where the violence itself was the protagonist, but where the disproportion of the reaction and the speed with which all this happened was impressive. Compared to those boys, so young, none of them, evidently, stopped for a second to think about the consequences of what they were doing and what they could cause.».
Massa is in shock, between unspeakable pain and dismay. «What are we becoming? What are we transmitting as adults to the new generations?”, the bishop asks. «These questions do not have an easy answer. I’m wary of anyone who thinks they have one ready-made. But not making these questions resonate in our consciences – as a civil and religious community, as a city, each according to their own role – would be the real defeat.”
Francesca Fialdini’s post on Facebook
Heartfelt condolences also came from the journalist and TV presenter Francesca Fialdini: «Giacomo Bongiorni was a classmate of mine. Knowing that he died due to degenerate violence carried out by children is doubly painful – he wrote on Facebook – Giacomo was a father, and he acted as such as well as a citizen. I wonder now where the fathers of those kids are and also where the other citizens are, those who govern us thinking that talking about emotional education at school is of no use. But also those who do not put in place any credible alternative offer for young people, who today evidently need something else for healthy and respectful socialization.” Again: «I mourn a playmate, a family man, and also a child – his son – who saw everything. As a city we should stand by his family. Not with the anger of revenge but with the firm conviction that this tragedy must transform the consciences of this wounded community. And impoverished. Hi James! Smiling little boy.”
Sara and Giacomo met three years ago and would have married in July. Bongiorni also leaves behind another daughter, 18 years old. The diocese and municipality are organizing a torchlight procession for him. «A community moment of reflection on the meaning of what happened – concludes Bishop Vaccari – to gather together in prayer as a sign of closeness to the pain of the family members».
