Anti-Vannacci rally sees clashes with police in Naples

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 2 - Clashes with police forces in riot gear occurred Friday in Naples during a march by about thirty young people protesting against the presence in the southern city of anti-gay general and European candidate for the rightwing League Party, Roberto Vannacci.
    Vannacci, 55, a former paratroop commander who became a rightist darling with a self-published bestseller slamming gays, Blacks, Jews, feminists and other minorities, has been suspended form his post and was tapped as EP candidate last week by League leader Matteo Salvini despite rumblings within the nationalist party.
    Most recently he has been accused of calling for separate school classes for the disabled, a charge he denies.
    The Naples demonstrators, who wanted to break through the barriers and police cordon protecting the area where Vannacci was presenting his book, 'Il Mondo al Contrario' (The World Back To Front), threw water-filled balloons and then hit the officers' shields with flagpoles.
    The police then responded with the use of batons, but there appear to be no injuries. The two sides are currently facing off in Via Nazario Sauro.
    Vannacci's says that gays are not normal, espouses the Great Replacement conspiracy theory about mainly Muslim migrants replacing ethnic Italians, suggests only white people can be real Italians, and lauds stand-your-ground self-defence laws.
    Salvini is deputy premier and transport minister. (ANSA).