Roberto Spada arrested for attacking RAI TV crew (5)

(ANSA) - Rome, November 9 - Roberto Spada, brother of Ostia clan chief Carmine, was arrested Thursday after attacking a RAI State broadcaster TV crew in the coastal town near Rome Wednesday. Spada is under investigation for grievous bodily harm and private violence with the aggravating factor of acting in a mafia context, judicial sources said.
    Spada, who was caught on film attacking the crew, denies the charges.
    Interior Minister Marco Minniti said the arrest "is proof that there are no no-go areas in Italy". Minniti thanked Rome prosecutors and the Carabinieri for arresting Spada. Spada headbutted a journalist and broke his nose and attacked a cameraman with a stick, interrupting an interview on the Spada clan's alleged relations with self-styled Fascist group CasaPound. CasaPound, which won 9% of the vote in a Sunday municipal election in Ostia, has denied any links with the clan. The RAI reporter who was attacked said Thursday that he won't let the assault stop him. "A broken nose can stop us," said Daniele Piervincenzi, who was headbutted by Spada when asking about possible links between the local Mob and CasaPound.
    "Naturally we are shaken, both me and (filmmaker) Edoardo Anselmi. He bravely defended the recording of the video camera during the attack and I'm grateful to him.
    "We'll both keep doing our job with the same dedication as before," added the journalist, who works for Rai2's program Nemo Nessuno Escluso. The RAI crew was in Ostia to report on the outcome of local municipal elections on Sunday, where CasaPound scored its unexpectedly high 9%.
    Investigators said Thursday they were weighing whether Spada's attack happened in a "mafia context". The probe has been assigned to anti-mafia prosecutors, judicials sources said. The incident occurred in a town whose council had been dissolved for mafia infiltration and Ostia is "clan land", the sources said.
    The vice president of CasaPound, Simone Di Stefano, on Thursday urged prosecutors to probe the far-right group "to see if there are criminal ties between us and the Spadas". He also called for a parliamentary inquiry to "bring out the whole truth on this affair". He said "we are requesting swift and public probes, and that the results should be diffused to public opinion". Di Stefano denied all links to the Spada clan.