A judge in Florence has ordered the expulsion of three United States citizens, leaving a fourth awaiting trial, for assaulting a pair of off-duty carabinieri early Thanksgiving morning (22 November). The incident occurred following a minor accident involving the car of American college students, two of whom were in Florence on a study-abroad programme, and a car carrying two carabinieri.

Police at the scene confirmed that the assailants were drunk and that one of them had a pair of brass knuckleduster.

Both carabinieri were hospitalized for contusions and one had to be treated for a head injury.

The presiding judge offered expulsion to three of the perpetrators instead of up to eight months in prison. The fourth is awaiting trial for aggravated assault.

Because the perpetrators are not citizens of the European Union, their cases have been treated in the same legal framework as immigrant-related crime. Though expulsion for non-Europeans has become a common practice, its use against United States citizens is extremely rare.