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Venetian mayor Luigi Brugnaro pledged the city will be protected from terror attacks. In a video recorded by Il Fatto Quotidiano, he said: "If you go to St Mark's Square, run and shout, we'll shoot you down after three steps. "We will continue to increase it because we must make the city and its citizens feel that we are there, that we are able to react."

GETTY/IL FATTO QUOTIDIANO Luigi Brugnano said it was time Venice bagan to defend itself from terrorism

The self-proclaimed politically incorrect politician said it was now time to stop with "naïve optimism" and address terrorism head-first. He said: "Let's be clear: it's the end of do-gooders. "If you want to kill me, I'll defend myself. We defend ourselves in Venice." In 2015, the city was directly hit by terrorism when Venetian student Valeria Solesin, 28, was slain at the Bataclan music hall in Paris.