300 Venice Protesters Clash With Police Over Fertitta's $450 Million Yacht
Updated
Updated · CNN · Jul 18
300 Venice Protesters Clash With Police Over Fertitta's $450 Million Yacht
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Jul 18
Summary
Around 300 demonstrators confronted riot police in Venice on Friday as officers pushed back people trying to reach U.S. ambassador Tilman Fertitta’s yacht during the Redentore festival.
The protest targeted the arrival of Fertitta’s 117-meter Boardwalk, which docked near a prime fireworks-viewing area and was denounced by activists and union leaders as a symbol of wealth, privatization and environmental unsustainability.
Security costs sharpened the backlash: Fertitta says he pays the yacht’s expenses himself, but U.S. and Italian officials have not disclosed what Italian taxpayers are spending to protect him at sea and on land.
The Venice stop is part of a 13-port “coastal diplomacy” tour through Labor Day, with meetings planned onboard as Fertitta celebrates the United States’ 250th anniversary.
The clash extends broader resentment in Venice over billionaire spectacles and comes amid strained Trump-Meloni relations, even as Italy’s Foreign Ministry says the yacht diplomacy is working.