Carlo Giuliani was a 23 year old anarchist and anti-globalist from Italy. Born in Rome on March 14, 1978, Carlos Giuliani was shot dead by the Carabinieri (Italian police force) on July 20, 2001 during demonstrations opposing the 27th G8 summit in Italian Genoa. Despite being young, Carlos Giuliani was one of those protesters who believed that the globalization could not be halted by peaceful talks and that the only way to stop it would be by the use of force.

Death of Carlo Giuliani

As the clashes between the protesters and the Carabinieri were getting more and more violent, one of the Carabinieri vehicles – a black Range Rover Defender got stuck at Genoa’s Piazza Alimonda which created an opportunity for the protesters to attack it. A few protesters took whatever they could find and started bashing the vehicle up, and in came Carlo Giuliani who found himself a fire extinguisher and ran towards the vehicle to throw it in.

Having nowhere to run to avoid being potentially seriously hurt by the extinguisher, and watching the protester being serious about hurling that chunk in, one of the police officers responded by shooting the ski mask veiled protester in the face at point blank range. The officer who fired the shots (two shots were fired at Carlo Giuliani) was the same age as the victim – 23. His name is Mario Placanica.

While I kind of understand why the Carabinieri shot Carlo Giuliani who clearly had an intention to cause harm, or potentially kill the officers inside, the subsequent action on behalf of the police seems inexcusable. As the body of dead Carlo Giuliani hit the ground, the driver of the police vehicle reversed to drive over it and then drove forward to drive over it again.

The Genoa G8 Protests

Estimated 200,000 demonstrators participated in the anti globalization protests in Genoa in July 2001. Since the protests often turned violent, the police were forced to use tear gas and water cannons and in isolated cases – live rounds. The Carabinieri vehicle from where the shots which killed Carlo Giuliani were fired was isolated by militant protesters, its front end stuck against a wall and windows smashed with stones.

Because the vehicle was stuck and could not go forward, the driver seized the opportunity the killing of Carlo Giuliani created and reversed over the supine body before speeding away, running that body over one more time in the process. This was done to get the cops out of there before the raging crowd could overwhelm the vehicle entirely, but damn…

The Carlo Giuliani Legacy

I don’t know whether there is any legacy to the death of Carlo Giuliani. He was the man who believed that violence, rather than peaceful actions are the way to advance a political cause. The police were stationed there to do their job. Whether agreeing with G8’s purpose or not, they were there on duty as per their job descriptions. To attempt an attack that could have killed a police officer is surely a justified reason for the cop to shoot. And that was also what judge presiding over the case of Mario Placanica who shot Carlo Giuliani to death said. According to the official ruling, Mario Placanica acted in self defense and was acquitted from any wrong doing.

On the other hand, there is a lot to say against globalizing efforts of the Group of Eight. Protesting these G8 summits is seen by many as a righteous cause and there truly is more to it than meets the eye. Globalization critics claim that the reason the protests were turning violent was because people were deprived of their right to freedom of assembly. The summit was held behind closed doors with public given no chance to communicate with summit delegates. Being leaders of 8 of the most powerful nations is clearly not enough. Global control over the entire planet seems more like it, but that’s not a topic for this article. Check out the video by a guy who was at the Genoa G8 Summit protests:

Gallery of photos of protester Carlo Giuliani and his death during G8 summit in Genoa, Italy is below. It’s the largest collection of photos documenting his death on the net: