Vampe di San Giuseppe: Night of Madness in Palermo, Three Officers Hospitalized

Last Updated: March 19, 2024

At least three police officers were injured in Palermo, in the Ballarò district, during the tensions that broke out last night around the “vampe di San Giuseppe,” the traditional bonfires lit on the eve of the saint’s feast. Valter Mazzetti, general secretary of Fsp police union, reported: “The vampe di San Giuseppe cost three injured police officers, after a night of madness in Palermo where, on the occasion of the widespread ritual of the vampe di San Giuseppe, a real urban guerrilla broke out in Ballarò, in the historic market area.” Some young people set fire to a “vampa” before attacking the officers of the XI Mobile Unit and the police station, with a dense hurling of bottles, eggs, and pieces of furniture. Among the officers taken to Ingrassia hospital, one suffered a shoulder injury, one to the left ankle, and one a severe neck trauma. The officers of the XI Mobile Unit and the police station, who intervened to limit the damage caused by the vampe di San Giuseppe, were literally bombarded with glass bottles, rocks, and various objects. Similar scenes in other parts of the city, with severe disruptions and damaged cars. “For the umpteenth year, in Palermo – says the provincial secretary of Fsp Palermo, Antonino Piritore – the eve of St. Joseph has been marked by scenes of unprecedented violence against law enforcement. What happened in the Ballarò neighborhood is a very serious matter that deserves quick and decisive responses. If it’s not football matches, it’s political beliefs, environmental motivations, antiglobalization, or even medieval rituals on religious holidays, and so on; in short, there is always a good reason to attack the police.” It is a never-ending shame, every single day of the year we count injured for the most absurd and, we must have the courage to say it, unacceptable reasons.