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AFP
Rome
Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is demanding an apology over reports he is stoking racism after claiming that a drive-by egg attack on a promising black Italian athlete wasn't racially motivated.
Salvini, also deputy prime minister, had been blasted for what the Italian left has called a climate of hate created by his anti-immigrant rhetoric following the attack on Daisy Osakue near northern city Turin on Sunday night, linked to a string of recent attacks on black people and immigrants.
The three teenage culprits were caught by police on Thursday and charged with assault, and Italian media reported that investigators linked them to similar attacks that targeted white Italians.
"Three quarters of Italian journalists took up column space talking about an athlete who was the victim of a racist attack. Rubbish: it was three spoiled brats who have fun by chucking eggs,"Salvini, leader of the nationalist League, said in an interview with news channel Sky TG24.
"I expect an apology to the League and Italians."
