Female Reporter Attacked by Migrants While Reporting on ‘Suffering’ in Italy

Italian reporter Francesca Parisella, who works for Italy’s Matrix Channel 5 in Rome, was shocked after being attacked on live television last week by hosting a report on refugees who stopped in Italy on their way to other European countries.

Parisella is reporting outside a train station in Rome, which is large well used central terminal, where the camera shows groups of migrants sleeping on the streets on the sidewalk. You see bodies wrapped in sleeping bags and blankets outside the station as refugees presumably wait for future trains to arrive.

“They have gathered some chance items, made from cardboard with covers to protest from the cold of the street,” Parisella says as the camera pans over various migrants sleeping on the streets. She also explains that only a little while ago volunteers were handing out “hot meals” to the migrants before they went to sleep.

Shortly into Parisella’s report, her cameraman drops his camera to the side as Parisella shouts, “We’ve been assaulted! More shouts are heard before the feed is cut off, as the TV station’s announcers asks if Francesca is alright.

“They’ve assaulted us,” Parisella says as her announcer urges her to get to safety.

Next you hear Parisella shout, “What do you want?” This is followed by more, very loud screams, and Parisella shouting, “You’re crazy!”

“Oh God, Francesca, get out of there,” the announcer in the studio says, clearly in shock and concerned for her safety.  The host, stood in shock for a few seconds before he tells the producer to call police, which appears to have already happened before he asked.

You can hear the terror in Francesca’s voice as she attempts to flee from her attacker.

The video below shows a translation of her ordeal.

Francesca Parisella and her cameraman were fortunately rescued by a taxi driver who happened to be passing by and urged them to get into the vehicle to escape.

A subsequent tweet from Francesca’s news station, Matrix Channel 5, showed that she was alright and the taxi driver, Roberto, “saved my life”, she said.

#Parisella: “Roberto mi ha salvato la vita” #Matrix @FParisella

— Matrix (@MatrixCanale5) May 7, 2017

The taxi driver was hailed as a hero and is pictured with a grateful Francesca in the following tweet.

Tra poco a #Matrix ospite Roberto, il tassista eroe che ha soccorso la nostra @FParisella durante l’aggressione alla stazione #Termini pic.twitter.com/p6XokT5Klg

— Matrix (@MatrixCanale5) May 7, 2017

The translated tweet says, “Roberto, the hero taxi driver who has rescued our @FParisella during the attack on the station.”

Police said Francesca was very lucky that the taxi driver arrived when he did, as I imagine without help from a bystander, the violent attack could have ended very differently.  Even with a cameraman present, Francesca very well could have be raped or worse had a good Samaritan not intervened.

This attack, which was covered very little or not at all by the mainstream media, illustrates the dangers of venturing into migrant areas undefended and not all migrants are seeking a peaceful life in European countries. Although clearly not all migrants are violent, even a small portion of migrants (especially those who are not properly vetted) seeking to commit crimes in an area where they are concentrated can have disastrous effects on the local population, and previously peaceful streets can rapidly turn into dangerous ghettos where a country’s citizens fear to venture.