[WATCH] Italy clan member Roberto Spada arrested for attacking TV crew

One of the brothers in the criminal group of the Ostia 'Spada' clan in Italy, Roberto Spada, was arrested for viciously attacking a RAI2 TV crew investigating clan links to fascist organisation CasaPound

Roberto Spada during the interview (Photo: il Globo)
Roberto Spada during the interview (Photo: il Globo)

 

Roberto Spada, brother of criminal group ‘Ostia clan’ chief Carmine, was arrested on Thursday, after attacking a RAI State broadcaster TV crew in Ostia, a coastal town near Rome, on Wednesday.

Spada is being charged with grievous bodily harm and aggravated battery within a mafia context, according to judicial sources.

The accused, who was captured on film attacking the crew, denied the charges.

The arrest is “proof that there are no no-go areas in Italy”, said interior minister Marco Minniti as he congratulated authorities and the Carabinieri – an Italian military force – on their arrest of Spada.

Spada reportedly headbutted a journalist, breaking his nose and attacked a cameraman with a stick, interrupting an interview which was focused on the Ostia clan’s alleged relations with the fascist group CasaPound.

CasaPound, which won Sunday’s municipal election in Ostia on Sunday, denied having any links with the clan.

On Thursday, the RAI reporter who was attacked said that he wouldn’t let it stop him.

“A broken nose can’t stop us”, said Daniele Pervincenzi, who was headbutted by Spada when he asked about possible links between the two.

“We’ll both keep doing our job with the same dedication as before” said Pervincenzi, who works for RAI2’s program called ‘Nemo Nessuno Escliuso’.

The crew was in Ostia to report on the outcome of the local municipal elections, which took place on Sunday, where CasaPound scored an unexpectedly high victory of 9%.

On Thursday, investigators said they were weighing out whether Spada’s attack occurred within a “mafia context” and the probe was assigned to anti-mafia prosecutors, said judicial sources.

The incident took place in a town, whose council had originally been dissolved for mafia infiltration.

“Ostia is ‘clan land’, said sources.

The vice president of CasaPound, Simone di Stefano urged prosecutors, on Thursday, to probe the far-right group to “see if there are criminal ties between us and the Spadas”.

He also called for a parliamentary inquiry to “bring out the whole truth”.

“We are requesting a swift and public probes, and that the results are diffused to public opinion”, he said, denying any and all links to the Spada clan.