Marcello De Angelis, Communications Manager for the Region of Lazio, resigns

The head of Institutional Communication for the Lazio Region, Marcello De Angelis, has resigned. The irrevocable resignation from office with immediate effect was communicated by De Angelis to the president of the Lazio Region, Francesco Rocca, by letter, after having anticipated them during a private interview. «I take note of the resignation of Marcello De Angelis as Head of Institutional Communication for the Region of Lazio – said Rocca – I thank him for the valuable work carried out so far and for the sense of responsibility shown. As well as my gratitude for having protected the institution I preside over from the unacceptable exploitation of these weeks, paying the price of a song written 45 years ago and for which he publicly expressed all his embarrassment and horror. Text, by the way, already known when in the past he performed functions such as parliamentarian and director of newspapers». In turn, De Angelis explained the choice by writing: “I cannot allow my past responsibilities to cloud or obscure the extraordinary work that many better people than I are doing for the common good”, wrote the now former head of Communications. De Angelis was challenged by a Facebook post in which he denied the “fascist” origin of the Bologna massacre of August 2, 1980. “I claim the right to doubt and dissent, although I cannot deny that I expressed myself inappropriately. sorry”. And also for the lyrics of a song written in the 90s “Black September” that talks about the massacre of Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympics and in which anti-Semitic phrases appear. “A meaningless hate message against innocent human beings, many of whom are my friends today,” explained De Angelis.

The resignation of the head of communications provoked enthusiastic reactions from the opposition. Elly Schlein commented that “De Angelis’ resignation has finally arrived”. For the secretary of the Italian Left, Nicola Fratoianni, the resignation “arrived too many weeks late and there is very little room for thanks like Rocca: this is an appointment that should not have been made”. Eleonora Mattei, regional councilor, proposes: “a law for the inclusion of the values ​​of anti-fascism and resistance in the regional statute”. Francesco Silvestri, leader of the group in the M5S House, declared: “Firing is the minimum wage, but the truth is that a person with the history of DeAngelis should never have held this position.” For the regional group of the Democratic Party: “The resignation of De Angelis represents an act due to the families of the victims of the Bologna massacre, to the millions of Jews exterminated in concentration camps, to the memory of judges like Mario Amato who fell under the fire of the neofascist violence. Denial, anti-Semitism, hatred and political violence must remain outside institutions, just as followers of it cannot take up positions in democratic institutions.” Then the democrat’s advisers add: “He was not the victim of any pillory”.

Source: IL Tempo

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