Filippo Raciti
Filippo Raciti (17 January 1967 - 2 February 2007) was an
Italian police officer ("ispettore di polizia" ) who died in
violence between Calcio Catania supporters and police
officers.
Born in Catania, Sicily, Raciti joined the Italian police in the
June of 1986, and was included in the local flying squad in late
2006. He lived in Acireale, in the Catania neighbourhood, with his
wife and two children, aged 15 and 9.
A week before his death, Raciti gave evidence at the trial of a
football hooligan, who was then freed by the local magistrate.
According to one of his colleagues, the hooligan laughed in his
face as he left the court.
Raciti died in Catania on February 2, 2007, after the end of the
football derby between Catania and Palermo, because of liver damage
caused by blunt object trauma, disproving an initial hypothesis
which claimed his death was caused by a homemade firecracker.
Raciti's death, which brought all Italian football matches to be
suspended for an indefinite time, caused strong emotion in Italy,
with a great and somewhat uncommon amount of solidarity towards the
Italian law enforcement forces, and massive coverage worldwide.
