Gaetano Bresci

Gaetano Bresci (Italian pronunciation: [ɡaeˈtano ˈbreʃʃi]; November 10, 1869 – May 22, 1901) was an Italian American anarchist who assassinated King Umberto I of Italy. Bresci was the first European regicide offender not to be executed, as capital punishment in Italy had been abolished since 1889.

Militancy

Bresci was born at Coiano, near Prato, Tuscany, and emigrated from Italy to the United States, making his living as a weaver in Paterson, New Jersey, which had a large Italian-American community. He became involved with and later a leading member of an Italian political group called "Gruppo diritti all' esistenza". He was one of the founders of La Questione Sociale, the Italian language anarchist paper published in Paterson. According to Emma Goldman:

In 1898, high bread prices led to demonstrations all over Italy. In Milan, an unarmed crowd of protestors marched toward the palace, which was surrounded by a strong military force under the command of General Fiorenzo Bava-Beccaris. The crowd ignored the order to disperse, whereupon Bava-Beccaris gave the signal to fire with muskets and cannons, resulting in a massacre of the demonstrators, in which more than ninety people died.