Italy's Premier Berlusconi Gets Punched in the Face, Nose Broken

This is not a joke, but Italy’s leader was recently punched in the face during the end of a rally on Sunday. The blow, which was inflicted upon the Premier by a man holding some kind of statue, broke Berlusconi’s nose. 

The man apparently shrugged off secret service agents, says the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Berlusconi had been shaking hands with supporters in a dense crowd when a man wielding a statuette broke through the crush of people and assaulted the premier. Mr. Berlusconi’s bodyguards hustled the premier into the back of a car while police detained the attacker, identified as 42-year-old Massimo Tartaglia. Police said Mr. Tartaglia didn’t have a criminal record.

The Sun says the assailant had a history of mental illness:

Tartaglia – who has been treated for mental problems over ten years – was arrested after throwing the statue of the cathedral.

 

Security around Mr Berlusconi had been tightened amid fears of attacks by Left-wing terrorists. 

While, the LA Times quotes a close ally of the Premier:

After being struck, Berlusconi collapsed, according to Italian TV reports, and was supported by bodyguards, who rapidly placed him inside his car.

Berlusconi quickly climbed back out of the car, showing his face to the crowd, before stepping back inside and being taken to the hospital.

According to the Italian news agency AGI, Berlusconi said in the hospital: “I am bitter about this campaign of hate against me. . . . But I am still here, and they won’t stop me.” 

“What they’ve done to Berlusconi is an act of terrorism,” Umberto Bossi, the head of the far-right Northern League and a close Berlusconi ally, told ANSA. 

The controversial prime minister, a billionaire whose business dealings and personal behavior have come under increasing fire, was attacked in 2004 in Rome’s Piazza Navona by a man with a camera tripod. Berlusconi suffered a slight bruise but no major injuries. Replicas of the tripod quickly went on sale by vendors outside the Colosseum and Vatican.