"Fifty years ago, on the occasion of the ceremony in memory of Commissioner Luigi Calabresi, a bomb was thrown on the crowd in front of the entrance to the Milan Police Headquarters, ending the lives of four defenseless people, causing pain to their families, and injuring numerous citizens who intervened." This begins a statement by Sergio Mattarella, President of the Republic, in which the Head of State recalled the anniversary of the massacre. "The intention was to target Mariano Rumor, Minister of the Interior, who was present at the police headquarters until a few minutes before the bomb exploded. The plan was to assassinate the politician who, in the face of subversive threats and a climate of terror, had strongly opposed any suspension of democratic guarantees and had vigorously promoted the dissolution of the neo-fascist organization Ordine Nuovo. It was a tragic continuation of the subversive strategy that began in Milan with the Piazza Fontana massacre and had been shedding innocent blood for years in order to destabilize our fledgling democracy. On this 50th anniversary, my first and most moving thoughts are with the victims and those who have had to bear the heavy burden of mourning and suffering. The Republic's history has drawn reasons for an ever stronger link with the principles enshrined in the Constitution, including from these lacerations. Gianfranco Bertoli, the actual perpetrator of the attack, was immediately brought to justice. Once the attack matrix was established, the findings of the investigations and trials did not allow for the removal of the shadows that partially obscured the neo-fascist instigators and the misdirection actions of infidel apparatuses. The attack on the state and the blackmail of democratic forces were defeated, and the attempt at authoritarian change was unsuccessful. A line that has characterized our democracy's path in the difficult years marked by terrorist acts of the opposite sign, contributing to its strength."
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