Let the orgy of oppo research begin!

Expect it when the radical left put forward their list of heroes and heroines to replace the ones it rejects.

The statue celebrates this fellow for being a hero of press freedom under Mussolini.

Protesters target statue of famed Italian journalist who married a 12-year-old in Eritrea

A statue of famed Italian journalist Indro Montanelli in Milan has been painted red and sprayed with the words "racist" and "rapist," while a petition has called for its removal.

While serving in the army in 1935-1936, during Italy's war in Eritrea, the 26-year-old Montanelli bought and married a 12-year-old girl.

During a 1969 interview with Italian journalist and activist Elvira Banotti, Montanelli said he was married to the child because he "bought" her, which he said was part of the region's tradition and common among Eritrean soldiers.

When Banotti pressed Montanelli on whether he had raped the girl, named Desta, the journalist did not answer the question directly but defended himself by saying that he was married and that the issue of rape was out of the question.

. . . .

Milan's mayor, Beppe Sala, said Sunday that although he had seen the video in which Montanelli admitted he had bought the girl, he believed Montanelli was a "great journalist" who fought for press freedom, and that the statue should remain where it is.

"Now I invite all of us, I invite our community to reflect on two issues. The first question I ask myself and you is what do we ask of personalities we want to remember with a statue, with a plaque, with the name of a street or a square, or a garden? 

"Do we ask for a spotless life? For a life in which everything was absolutely right? It is possible. However, few would remain to remember," he said in a video posted to Facebook.

"And the second question that I ask myself and you is: When we judge our lives, can we say that our own is spotless? And without things that we wouldn't do again?" he said.

"I put my hands up, my life is not. I made mistakes, I did things I wish I hadn't done, but lives must be judged in their complexity. 

"For all these reasons, I think that the statue must remain there. I am nevertheless available to discuss the issue of racism and Montanelli whenever you want," the mayor added.