Add the Gazzetta del Sud as a source
After the two intimidations suffered by the mayor Simona Scarcella, the municipal council of Gioia Tauro wrote to the Ministry of the Interior asking for the adoption of protection measures. In the document, the councilors express solidarity with the first female mayor of the city and denounce what they define as the “silence” of the institutions.
The latest episode dates back to the end of August, when an anonymous letter containing a direct threat to her children was found in the mailbox of the mayor’s home. In December 2025, however, an envelope containing seven bullets was delivered, four attributable to an assault rifle and three 9×21 caliber. Investigations are underway into the two episodes and at the moment no origin has been established.
The Council: «Two very serious acts of intimidation»
In the document, the members of the municipal executive express «the most sincere closeness and all their affection to the mayor of the city, lawyer Simona Scarcella, the first female mayor of Gioia Tauro, wife and mother, victim of two very serious acts of intimidation committed in her private home, the last of which was a ferocious threat directed at her children».
The Council then takes a position on the behavior of the institutions: «Having taken note of the silence of all the Institutions that should defend and protect an administrator, who right from the start has courageously demonstrated in facts that he wants to change the face of the city of Gioia Tauro, so that it is not labeled as the homeland of criminal activity, all the Councilors, members of the City Council, believe they are publicly expressing their convinced solidarity towards the Mayor, Lawyer Simona Scarcella».
The appeal after the request for a hearing with the Anti-Mafia
The initiative comes a few days after the open letter with which Scarcella asked the president of the parliamentary anti-mafia commission to be heard and to know what protection measures have been put in place for him. The latest intimidation was reported to the Prefecture of Reggio Calabria on 26 August.
In the document addressed to the Interior Ministry, the Council adds: «It is necessary to specify that the ‘Silence’ of the Institutions and the failure to protect our Mayor are particularly serious when one considers that in the city of Gioia Tauro, in the past, a Mayor was a victim of the mafia. We cannot remain silent in the face of such barbarism!
The reference is to the history of the city, also marked by the killing of the former mayor Vincenzo Gentile, doctor and twice mayor, murdered in front of his home in May 1987.
«Ready to take to the streets»
The councilors state that they have not lost faith in the institutions, which they ask “loudly to want to adopt all the necessary measures to defend our Mayor and our city”.
Then the announcement of a possible mobilization: «In the event that our heartfelt appeal is not followed up, we are ready to take to the streets together with the community to demand due protection from our mayor, so that these vile facts are not the announcement of a possible tragedy, which must be avoided at all costs».
An anti-mafia access commission has also been operating in the Municipality of Gioia Tauro since last April, engaged in the investigations required by law. This is a separate proceeding from the story of the intimidation of the mayor.
The note ends with the hope that «a message of hope will come from Gioia Tauro. That from this land where the institutions are very often criticized for their lack of sensitivity towards criminal episodes, they are the same ones who give a concrete signal that crime can be fought but above all defeated”. And with the request for “concrete acts and measures to ensure that episodes of violence can come to an end”.