A baker in the city of Arezzo was attacked by a migrant after she asked the man to wait outside before being served to prevent gatherings in the shop and the spread of Wuhan coronavirus.
The incident occurred earlier this week and saw the African migrant, who was described by the baker as being slightly intoxicated, enter the Boutique del Pane bakery while other customers were inside and was politely asked to wait outside until it was his turn to be served.
The migrant reacted highly negatively to the suggestion and began to berate the baker and the female customers in the shop, shouting “You Italians are shit!”
“I was serving a client when this young black guy entered, initially calm. I told him that he had to stay outside, that he had to respect like all the rules: in the shop no more than one at a time. And he has lost his mind,” the baker said, in comments reported by Italian newspaper La Nazione.
“The bad news was when he started to wreak havoc. He ran his hands over the shelves and threw everything on the ground, smashing what happened to be within his range: tins, glass jars, beer bottles. An uncontrollable fury,” she added.
Both the baker and a female customer were then attacked by the migrant who pushed them up against a wall and began hitting them.
“I yelled at the client to call the police; he ran away at that point, without taking anything away. Fortunately, because at that time there was no one else who could give us a hand. The other shops were all closed. I wouldn’t have known who to ask for help,” the baker said.
The incident comes after a 60-year-old man in Novara was attacked by an African migrant after he was asked to keep a safe distance to maintain social distancing.
“He started to rail against the Italians calling them ‘bastards and racists’,” the victim said.
Other countries have also seen tensions after lockdowns were put in place to halt the spread of coronavirus, including Britain, where youths set fire to food delivery vans and attacked police earlier this week.