Rome mayor's son shown in Fascist salute

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ROME, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The mayor of Rome said Tuesday the Italian edition of the Huffington Post website put his son at risk by publishing a photograph of him giving a fascist salute.

Manfredi Alemanno was photographed while he was on a vacation on the Greek island of Mykonos, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. He was with friends, and the photograph shows him giving the raised-arm salute adopted by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in Italy and taken up by the German Nazis soon after.

Gianni Alemanno, the first right-wing mayor of Rome since the fall of Fascism, is a member of Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party. But Alemanno started in politics as a member of the Italian Social Movement, a neo-Fascist political group.

The mayor blamed the director of the Italian Huffington Post for what he called a "violation."

"My son made a mistake but Lucia Annunziata should be ashamed. Our children, even when they do something wrong, should not and must not be put at risk of hate crimes or violence by being put on the front page," the mayor said.

Umberto Marroni, a member of the city council and leader in the Democratic Party, suggested the apple does not fall far from the tree.

"Unfortunately, it is obvious where the Alemanno family comes from historically ... and the son has inherited its questionable habits," Marroni said.