Homophobic Attack and Insults by Rome's 'King of Stalls' Augusto Proietti Against Rocco Casalino

A homophobic attack, insults to the fullest, swear words. They were directed in a video on social media by Augusto Proietti, the 'king of the stalls of Rome' to Rocco Casalino, former spokesman for the Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Guilty, according to Proietti, of having moved the stalls from Piazzale Flaminio. Rocco Casalino, the new house in Rome (overlooking Piazza del Popolo): photos of the former spokesman of the Palazzo Chigi. The homophobic insults to Rocco Casalino. 'Today we got fined at Piazzale Flaminio for two square meters of stall because Casalino, that miserable Casalino, because you can't say he is f... but you can say gay, calls the municipal police every day to have us fined. But who is this Casalino? Today (the police, ed) told us that the vans, which we have been parking there for thirty years, we can no longer park because they bother Casalino - Proietti said - and we have to put them on the Lungotevere three kilometers away and if you need something that was left on the van three kilometers away, who goes there? Now I am going to file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office against this piece of s.... He must tell me what the street vendors did to him.' The reactions. Immediate solidarity from the M5S to Casalino: 'We urge the Capitoline Assembly and all political forces to condemn such behavior firmly and clearly. It is not tolerable that respect for legality is questioned or bartered for a handful of votes. Our entire community expresses full solidarity with President Conte and Rocco Casalino for this sordid verbal assault.' The Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri said he had called 'Casalino to express my solidarity and that of the capitol administration, for the insults and serious threats he received. This is an unacceptable episode: this administration has always fought for legality and cannot tolerate such incidents in the city. We will continue with determination the work to restore decorum and respect for the rules at Piazzale Flaminio.' In the same vein, the M5S capitol groups and the Virginia Raggi Civic List expressed solidarity and support to Casalino for the 'vile and sordid' homophobic assault 'suffered by a violent and deplorable character. We are literally dismayed by the unheard-of and intolerable verbal violence used by Augusto Proietti, the boss of the street vendors convicted of criminal association and various crimes aimed at monopolizing street trading.'