Demonstration at Giardini Naxos of Sicily against "the world's powerful people who ignore ordinary people"

Hundreds of people have participated today, under draconian security measures, at the protest held in Giardini Naxos, Sicily, expressing their anger because G7 leaders, who were chatting at the same time in neighboring Taormina, ignore the interests of ordinary people.

The organizers expected about 3,500 protesters, but their number seems to have been much smaller. Salvatore Tzordan, a high school lecturer, argued that security measures are partly responsible for low participation. He said inter alia that police officers often stopped him for control and he was stopped for half an hour at the exit of a motorway before allowing him to continue his journey. Police officers also stopped buses and checked passengers, he added.

"We are not here to crack the windows but to protest because Sicily is transformed into a giant aircraft carrier for the great military forces," he said.
In Giardini Naxos, a typically quiet resort, the main road from where the demonstration would pass was filled with police clowns while on top a helicopter.

The professor went to the protest to protest the use of the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), which he claims to endanger the health of people living near his premises.
Another group of protesters kept red flags with hammers. Alessandro D'Alessandro, the Communist Party coordinator in Sicily, said there was a campaign of fear against media protesters, so the number of participants was low. "It was difficult to come here.