New provocation from Grillo, a photo with the balaclava on social media – Corriere.it

A new provocation on the edge of irony to respond to the criticisms and political controversies of the past few hours. Beppe Grillo defends himself in his own way, that is, by posting a photo of a man wearing a Movement t-shirt and a balaclava on his face on Instagram. In his hand he has a sign with the words and the acronym bg, the initials of Grillo’s name. Accompanying the photo, Grillo writes “benches repair brigade”. And again “we are waiting for the manhole and sidewalk brigades”. The implicit reference is to the phrase pronounced yesterday on the stage of the demonstration No more precarious lives “Make the brigades of citizenship, put on balaclavas and at night, without being seen, do the chores, arrange the sidewalks. React”.

A phrase that sparked the political tussle. Almost all the political forces, from the Brothers of Italy to the League, from Italia viva to Forza Italia up to some exponents of the Democratic Party have criticized the words of the M5S guarantor. In the evening, the M5S leader, Giuseppe Conte, also intervened to defend the founder, speaking of a “sentence taken out of its context and criminalized because, caressing the taste for paradox, he incited those present to wear a `balaclava´ to carry out actions other than violent, but peaceful and useful for their community. And so a tribute to the socially useful work of many active citizens, who personally take care of their neighbourhood, of the public parks near their homes, of the streets they cross every day – too often replacing a state that is too absent – has generated a ridiculous chorus of indignation”.

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