Alessandra Mussolini, deputy leader of the Forza Italia's delegation to the European Parliament, said she was attacked in Strasbourg, in a video she posted on her social media account.
The MEP, who attended a plenary session of the Euro Chamber, said that on Monday evening she was verbally and physically assaulted by a stranger as she walked through the city centre on her way to a restaurant for dinner.
"I was attacked by a man who spoke Italian. A series of crazy insults, then he had a kind of crutch and threw it at me, on my back and shoulders...now I'm going...that is, there is too much violence....," Mussolini said in the short video, which appears to have been filmed immediately after the incident.
The politician said she was "devastated" by the incident.
Mussolini recounted the attack with the Italian news agency Adnkronos: "I had just finished the session of the European Parliament, I was walking down the street accompanied by my assistant, I was wearing a hood because it was cold. At a certain point, a guy in his forties came out of nowhere: he was Italian, I know because he started violently insulting me, saying 'Mussolini piece of m...., fascist', and other things like that," said the MEP.
Mussolini decided not to press charges
Mussolini claims the assault was politically motivated. The Forza Italia MEP explains that it is not the first time she has been insulted, but that she has not previously been physically attacked.
Mussolini decided she will not press charges, but posted again on her X account thanking her followers and friends for their solidarity.
Mussolini is the daughter of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, and niece of renowned actress Sophia Loren.
She was elected into the European Parliament in 2014.
