(ANSA) - Macerata, April 27 - A cordon of immigrants stopped anti-immigrant Northern League leader Matteo Salvini from entering the Marche port town of Porto Recanati Monday. Salvini had been bidding to visit a condo occupied by north Africans but the migrants blocked his way. Police failed to break the cordon and Salvini returned to the provincial capital, Macerata.
Earlier in the day in the Marche city of Ancona, anticapitalist youth club activists targetedthe rightwing populist party leader by throwing eggs, tomatoes, and bottles at him during a public appearance he made in one of the city's main squares, Piazza Roma. Salvini, wearing a blue-and-yellow sweater with the name of the region, "Marche", printed on it, made a 15-minute appearance in the square, stopping at a Northern League table where workers were collecting signatures for party candidates for the upcoming regional elections to be held May 31.
Although the area where Salvini appeared was cordoned off for security, that didn't stop the 'social center' activists from hurling insults at the party leader, including screams of "go away, shame on you, fascists".
The demonstration didn't seem to faze Salvini, however, who responded to the uproar by making a statement referring to last weekend's April 25 Liberation Day, which marked the 70th anniversary of Italy's liberation from occupation forces during World War II.
"Just think, maybe these people here were the same ones who on April 25 were talking about liberty and democracy," Salvini said.