Italian racist who gunned down black migrants receives ‘wave of support’ and offers of cash: lawyer

An Italian man accused of shooting six African migrants in a racist attack has received a wave of support from “ordinary people”, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Far-right sympathiser Luca Traini, who shot five men and one woman from Ghana, Mali and Nigeria in the central city of Macerata last Saturday, said the “trigger” was the murder of an Italian woman allegedly by a Nigerian asylum seeker.

And Traini’s views have earned him numerous messages of support, his lawyer Giancarlo Giulianelli said.

“These messages of solidarity continue to arrive, from all parts of the political spectrum – often from ordinary people and also from left-wing friends from Macerata and also obviously from right-wing people with the same ideology as Luca,” Giulianelli said.

“The messages mostly come from regular people who want to write letters or send money. Some even support the act itself, as though they were happy that he did it.

“There are people who say let me know your IBAN (bank details) so I can send money’, but my client, although he thanks everyone for the messages, doesn’t intend to have any financial support because he wants it … to be sent to help Italian families in difficulty.”