House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Rome did not go perfectly, as protesters disrupted the trip and put her in danger.
Pelosi traveled to Rome this week to visit foreign leaders, according to NPR. She decided to attend Mass at the St. Patrick’s Church in Rome. She even met with Pope Francis during her trip.
But little did she know there was chaos outside of the building. Per NPR, thousands of protesters took to the streets to argue against Italy’s new “green pass” vaccine mandate, which requires workers to show proof of vaccination.
A representative from Pelosi’s office said that Pelosi and her husband were removed from the church by the government because there were safety concerns.
There was some confusion about whether Pelosi had been heckled during her trip to Rome. Misinformation suggested that Pelosi had been booed and heckled by protesters. But Drew Hammill, a Pelosi representative, said on Twitter that this wasn’t the case.
- “There was no heckling. An unrelated anti-vaxxer protest prompted security officials to take precautions,” he wrote.
Indeed, those who followed the Pelosi trip reported that there wasn’t any such event.
To calm the protesters, Italian police used water cannons and tear gas, according to Reuters. The protesters included groups of neo-fascist activists.