Elon Musk effigy hanged in square where Mussolini's executed corpse was displayed
A communist Italian group strung up an effigy of the world's richest man Elon Musk in the Milan square where the body of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was hanged
A chilling effigy of Elon Musk was strung up in the same square the body of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was hanged after his execution.
Protesters from the left-wing communist collective known as ‘Cambiare Rotta’, which translates to ‘Change Course’, put up the effigy of the world’s richest man in the Piazzale Loreto, Milan, and posted an image of it on social media with the caption “There's always room at Piazzale Loreto, Elon”, according to the Italian agency ANSA.
The group has made headlines in Italy for controversial positions on major issues, such as chanting pro-Hezbollah chants, according to Euro News.
Musk has endorsed a number of far-right parties in Europe on his social media app X and made a series of controversial statements, some of them false.
A self-described “free speech absolutist”, Musk has faced criticism from hate-speech watchdogs for allowing extremist, dangerous and anti-Semitic comments to flourish on the social media platform.
He has also called for the release of British idiot, loudmouth and far-right agitator Tommy Robinson.
This week, right-wing extremists were celebrating Elon Musk’s straight-arm gesture during a speech on Monday, although his intention was not completely clear.
"I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” Musk said during a speech on Monday, referring to Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
Then he slapped his hand on his chest, extended his arm straight outward and upward, with his palm facing downwards. He turned around and made a similar gesture facing the other way.
“My heart goes out to you,” he said. Many social media users said the gesture looked like a Nazi salute.
“The White Flame will rise again,” a chapter of the white nationalist group White Lives Matter posted on Telegram.
Musk has hit out at his critics, writing on his X social media site that the “‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired”.
Extremism watchdogs and experts pointed out it was unclear what Musk was trying to convey to the crowd of Trump supporters during his speech by thrusting his arm out.
The Anti-Defamation League, an antisemitism and human rights watchdog, described it as an “awkward gesture” and urged caution in jumping to conclusions. “It would be an act of self-sabotage that wouldn’t really make much sense at all,” it noted. They noted Musk specifically said his heart went out to the crowd, which could indicate a sort of gesture of thanks to them.
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