President: Giampaolo Pioli   |   Editor in Chief: Stefano Vaccara

  • Login
VNY La Voce di New York

The First Italian English Digital Daily Newspaper in the US

  • English Edition
  • Letters
  • New York
  • U.N.
  • News
  • People
  • Arts
  • Lifestyles
  • Food & Wine
  • Travel
  • Italian Edition
No Result
View All Result
VNY
  • English Edition
  • Letters
  • New York
  • U.N.
  • News
  • People
  • Arts
  • Lifestyles
  • Food & Wine
  • Travel
  • Italian Edition
No Result
View All Result
VNY La Voce di New York
No Result
View All Result
in
News
September 9, 2017
in
News
September 9, 2017
0

Two American Students Allege Rape by Carabinieri in Florence

La Voce writer and student at NYU Florence reports on a disturbing story in Tuscany

Eilish Rose AndersonbyEilish Rose Anderson
Two American Students Allege Rape by Carabinieri in Florence

Photo Flickr/by Macsous

Time: 4 mins read

As I sit down to write this article, I am harshly reminded that every topic I have previously covered in my young journalistic career has been well removed from my own life and experience. This time, however, the story is much different. In the early morning hours of September 7th, two American girls, hardly older than twenty years old, alleged that they were raped by two Carabinieri police officers in Florence, Italy after a night out. The girls are university students studying abroad in the Tuscan city for the Fall semester of the school year. Florence prosecutors are currently investigating the grave allegations made by the students against the Italian military police.

On the evening between the 6th and 7th of September, the two girls, as part of a larger group went to Flo nightclub near Piazzale Michelangelo towards the outskirts of the city center. According to the Italian publication La Repubblica, a fight broke out among patrons of the nightclub causing three Carabinieri squad cars to arrive in the area. After the disturbance was calmed, two of the squad cars left, leaving one remaining with two officers inside. A friend of mine who was out with the girls on the night in question attested that the group exited the club at different times and broke up to find taxis to their separate residences, with the two girls leaving latest at around 4am.

My friend had already left in a cab when “the officers offered them a ride”, she said, referring to the victims of the attack. The officers then drove them home where the Carabinieri “walked them inside and raped them in the hallway of their apartment building”.

According to Italian media, this part of the story is where a certain inconsistency in the girls’ statements to police comes to light regarding where the attack took place. One girl said she was attacked in the hallway of the apartment building, and the other stated that the other officer attacked her in the elevator. A phone call was made to police soon after by the two girls. They were taken by ambulance to the hospital where they were treated and administered a psychological exam. It was also clear that the girls were under the influence of alcohol, one much more so than the other. The students allegedly were also able to capture a photo of at least one of the men and the squad car, which led to the identification of two men currently under investigation.

Coming from a country where large populations of Americans are unable to fully trust their own police force did not lessen the shock for my peers or me when we heard the news of what had happened. As the investigation is underway, it has already been released that security camera footage shows four figures in the Carabinieri squad car, the two men and the two girls, and that the two officers made a report to central command that they were stopping for a check in the center of Florence in the early hours of September the 7th.

Roberta Pinotti, the Italian Minister of Defense, spoke out about the allegations in Milan friday, stating that “rape is always a grave thing, but it is a thing of unheard gravity to be committed by uniformed Carabinieri.” She articulated that her office has received no official information yet, only media stories, meaning that the two Carabinieri have not yet been suspended from their posts but will be as soon as an official communication is released. Meanwhile, the United States Department of State, in the interest of protecting the privacy of the girls involved, released a statement saying only that “our foreign offices are always ready to assist American citizens that have fallen victim to crimes and that seek assistance in our embassies and our consulates.”

This is not the first time I’ve heard harsh accusations thrown around against the Carabinieri. Italy’s multi-branch police force has been somewhat of an enigma that even the Italians I ask seem unable to puzzle out. A friend of mine recently described the Carabinieri as “racist” due to his own encounters with the Italian military police, but that is simply anecdotal.  It is too early in the investigation to know fully what happened on that night, but even if the relations between the girls and the police officers were consensual, and it is pretty clear that relations took place due to the results of the hospital exams, the two Carabinieri would face strong penalties because they were in uniform and on duty when the events in question took place. There has yet been no conviction for the two men under investigation, but it is still clear that for a long while neither I, nor any of my friends, will be accepting rides from Carabinieri.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Eilish Rose Anderson

Eilish Rose Anderson

DELLO STESSO AUTORE

Two American Students Allege Rape by Carabinieri in Florence

Due studentesse americane a Firenze: siamo state violentate da due Carabinieri

byEilish Rose Anderson
Two American Students Allege Rape by Carabinieri in Florence

Two American Students Allege Rape by Carabinieri in Florence

byEilish Rose Anderson

A PROPOSITO DI...

Tags: american studentsarma carabiniericarabinieriFlorenceviolence against women
Previous Post

11 settembre, la cerimonia al Consolato per le vittime italo americane

Next Post

Nessuno tocchi Colombo a New York: l’adunata italo americana di Alberto Milani

Discussion about this post

DELLO STESSO AUTORE

Love Truly Does Trump Hate: Women’s March Shuts D.C. Down

Love Truly Does Trump Hate: Women’s March Shuts D.C. Down

byEilish Rose Anderson
UNSC-Gambia

UN Resolution on Gambia Leaves Loophole for Violence

byEilish Rose Anderson

Latest News

Libia: manifestanti assaltano il parlamento a Tobruk

Libia: manifestanti assaltano il parlamento a Tobruk

byAnsa
Riparte la fiera d’arte BRAFA a Bruxelles

Riparte la fiera d’arte BRAFA a Bruxelles

byAlma Torretta

New York

Independence Day: A New York tutti pronti per la festa del 4 luglio

byMassimo Jaus
Brooklyn: nella notte trovato il torso di una donna in un carrello della spesa

Spara a una madre davanti al suo neonato: esecuzione choc nell’Upper East Side

byLa Voce di New York

Italiany

Con il falso Made in Italy gli Usa vogliono invadere il mercato europeo

Con il falso Made in Italy gli Usa vogliono invadere il mercato europeo

byLa Voce di New York
Lo staff di In Scena!

In Scena! Sipario sul festival del teatro italiano a New York che reagisce alla pandemia

byManuela Caracciolo
Next Post
Nessuno tocchi Colombo a New York: l’adunata italo americana di Alberto Milani

Nessuno tocchi Colombo a New York: l'adunata italo americana di Alberto Milani

La Voce di New York

President: Giampaolo Pioli   |   Editor in Chief: Stefano Vaccara

  • New York
    • Eventi
  • Onu
  • News
    • Primo Piano
    • Politica
    • Voto Estero
    • Economia
    • First Amendment
  • People
    • Expat
  • Arts
    • Arte e Design
    • Spettacolo
    • Musica
    • Libri
    • Lingua Italiana
  • Lifestyles
    • Fashion
    • Scienza e Salute
    • Sport
    • Religioni
  • Food & Wine
  • Travel
    • Italia
  • Mediterraneo
  • English
  • Search/Archive
  • About us
    • Editorial Staff
    • President
    • Administration
    • Advertising

VNY Media La Voce di New York © 2016 - 2022
Main Office: 230 Park Avenue, 21floor, New York, NY 10169 | Editorial Office/Redazione: UN Secretariat Building, International Press Corps S-301, New York, NY 10017

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • New York
  • Onu
  • News
    • Primo Piano
    • Politica
    • Economia
    • First Amendment
  • Arts
    • Arte e Design
    • Spettacolo
    • Musica
    • Libri
  • Lingua Italiana
  • Lifestyles
    • Fashion
    • Scienza e Salute
    • Sport
    • Religioni
  • Food & Wine
    • Cucina Italiana
  • Travel
    • Italia
  • English

© 2016/2022 VNY Media La Voce di New York

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In