The Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro said that anyone shouting “Alahu Akbar” would be shot on the spot. Speaking at a conference in Rimini, north east Italy, the right-wing local politician revealed to journalists that he had instructed police to shoot any person shouting Allahu Akbar in the city, while he claimed Venice was much safer than Barcelona, which saw 14 people killed by a Islamist terrorist attack with a van last week. The Arabic phrase means “God is the greatest” and has been used by Islamist extremists in attacks in the past. before perpetrating attacking

“If anyone runs into St Mark’s Square shouting ‘Allahu Akhbar’, we will take him down.
“A year ago I said within four paces, now within three. I will say it in Venetian: ‘Ghe Sparemo’ (We will shoot him).” He continued by recalling the arrest in March of four suspected terrorists who allegedly planned to kill hundreds of tourists by blowing up of Venice’s tourist attractions the world famous Rialto Bridge. He added: “They wanted to go to Allah. But we’ll send them straight to Allah before they can do any damage.” Video of Florence’s left-wing mayor Dario Nardella going up to Brugnaro and shouting “Allahu Akbar” and laughing after his speech has emerged. The left-wing mayor of Florence has since apologised on his Facebook account saying that he did not intend to offend the Muslim community or make any reference to the recent tragic events. The phrase is first believed to have been used by the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century before going into battle.
It first resurfaced in connection with modern atrocities in notes made by the 9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta found after the attack on the World Trade Center.