Italian priest gives middle finger to mob of masked rioters who chased scared tourists into church

The bird of the Lord.An Italian priest gave a group of far-left rioters the middle finger in sign of resistance against the agitators who took over the streets of Milan under the guise of student protests, pillaging the city with violence and looting.Father Giannicola Maria Simone stood at the doorstep of the Church of Sant’Alessandro di Zebedia near the historic Piazza Sant’Alessandro as the mob of youngsters rushed by and gave them the universal sign to scatter off in front of a shocked parishioner after the violent protests erupted on Oct.17.The horde of masked instigators marched past the entrance of the towering parish church as the 65-year-old priest stood guard at the doors.One of the unidentified agitators raised his hands, pointing both middle fingers at Simone, who nonchalantly returned the crude gesture, sticking up his left hand and flipping the bird, according to a now-viral video of the encounter.Simone confessed to the flagrant act, debunking rumors that the viral video was AI, claiming he did it without violent intentions.“It’s real, even if they’re now making up fake versions,” Simone told Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera Thursday.“It happened like this: as these young people were walking by, someone gave me the middle finger.

They’re kids, so I’m not surprised.I gave them the middle finger back, but without any violent intentions or the risk of sparking further anger.”The fearless cleric was not worried about the rioters damaging his church, saying they were clueless about why they were there.“He did it because he saw me, but they were all running away,” he said.Simone had been monitoring the violence occurring next door when he realized the hooded hoodlums were making their way towards the church.The quick-thinking priest says he ushered scared tourists into the church to escape the violence.“I was in the church watching what was happening… then I saw them pushing forward and spreading out into the side streets, ...