Hundreds of protesters clashed with riot police in Venice on Friday as US Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta arrived on his super yacht as part of a "Coastal Diplomacy 250" tour marking America’s 250th anniversary.
Protesters decry wealth display in Venice
Demonstrators carried inflatable toys and beach balls behind a banner reading “Venezia non si USA,” a pun meaning “Venice is not to be used.” They approached police lines with raised arms but were met with shields when they refused to stop. Inflatable objects were thrown, and protesters later chanted “Shame!” at the ambassador, mayor, and police.
Fertitta’s 117-meter (384-foot) yacht, Boardwalk, was moored in St. Mark’s Basin, surrounded by police boats. Protest signs included “Make America Read Again” and “Oligarch in saor,” referencing a local dish. Organizers unfurled a banner matching the yacht’s length on July 4, calling it a symbol of “the dimensions of his arrogance.”
Ambassador’s response and protest links to Trump
Fertitta, a hospitality billionaire, called his 13-region tour a celebration of US-Italy ties. In a statement, he supported protest rights, saying, “We Americans respect freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest.”
Organizer Stella Morion tied the protest to Trump’s policies, including US strikes on Iran, which she claimed raised energy prices. “It is the umpteenth slap in the face of a city and all of the people in Venice who struggle to reach the end of the month,” Morion said.
Fertitta’s background and next steps
Fertitta, owner of Fertitta Entertainment and the Houston Rockets, has a net worth of $11.3 billion. His tour included stops in Sicily and Calabria. He is expected to attend Venice’s Redentore festival, which commemorates the end of the 1576 plague.
His tenure as ambassador coincides with strained relations between Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Trump, who has criticized her on social media. Meloni did not attend the US Embassy’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
