Thread by @ebpaynter

Sentence is in for #MimmoLucano, former mayor of Riace (Calabria) & a leader in migrant reception & solidarity practices in Italy: 13 yrs 2 mos, nearly twice what prosecutors requested.

It's a harsh statement against migrant solidarity. Background 🧵:
ilfattoquotidiano.it/2021/09/30/lex…

As ⬇️ explains, Lucano's trial (2019 - now, based on investigations concerning 2014-2017) has always been viewed as a political trial 2/
infomigrants.net/en/post/32333/…

In a period shaped by racist, anti-immigrant sentiments and policies, Riace was regarded by many as a model for migrant hospitality. Here's a useful PBS Newshour piece on the town & what's happened 3/ pbs.org/newshour/show/…

The Riace model wasn't a perfect system. It couldn't supersede the fact that migrants whose asylum claims are denied have to exit formal reception & often face extreme precarity & homelessness. I'm thinking also about people like Becky Moses 4/ thelocal.it/20180129/migra…

And the funeral held for Becky Moses in Riace, May '18. As Lucano says here, Riace still depended on the state, on state policies, & couldn't control what happened to those made to leave. Riace hospitality did significant work, but w/in a fraught system 5/

I bring this up also because while this trial is of course about #MimmoLucano, the attacks on hospitality and reception are attacks against migrants, and migrant lives, rights & well-being should stay central in these conversations 6/

When Salvini took office mid-2018, he led charges against multiple solidarity & hospitality practices, attempting to illegally close Italian ports to rescue ships, and attacking celebrated figures like Lucano. 7/

But this trial is a reminder that these attacks aren't just about a single populist politician (after all, Salvini's no longer in office). 8/

Here's a discussion with Lucano (in Italian) in NYC in 2019: 9/ lavocedinewyork.com/en/people/2019…

And one of Lucano's appearances on @welikeduel, in 2018 10/ la7.it/propagandalive…

And as this article notes, protests were held throughout Italy in support of Lucano 11/ infomigrants.net/en/post/12707/…

"Lucano’s arrest came a week after Salvini unveiled a series of anti-immigration measures that included slashing funds for migrant reception & integration...arrest also followed the suspension...of a TV show about Riace’s exemplary integration model." 12/
theguardian.com/world/2018/oct…

There are multiple questions at stake in this trial & the politics surrounding it: what is hospitality? who determines what solidarity practices look like? what plans does Italy have to support the long-term well-being of migrants & local communities? 13/

And Riace is one example of crackdowns and harsh policies that affect many others trying to carry out community-centered work that supports migrants 14/

Here's a photo essay from 2016 (photos by @francescopisti)
Lucano (5 yrs ago): "What I hope from this story is to spread a message of humanity, hope and anti-racism to the world"
15/
bbc.com/news/in-pictur…

#MimmoLucano's sentencing covered by @lorenzo_tondo in the Guardian 16/ theguardian.com/world/2021/sep…