VICE magazine’s offices were stormed by anti-gay far-right thugs over article quoting them accurately
The offices of VICE magazine in Romania were stormed last week by far-right ultra-nationalists who objected to an article published last year in which one of them was quoted verbatim about protesting against a Pride event.
Calin Mărincuş, a former kickboxer who runs the Facebook page ‘No Islamisation of Romania’, was interviewed last year by VICE Romania writer Ovidiu Tiţă.
In the interview, which was published in July, Mărincuş talked about being part of a demonstration against the first ever Pride event in Cluj-Napoca, the country’s second-largest city.
At the time, he was quoted as saying that “homosexuality is a mental illness”, that it is “deviant” and “a choice”.
VICE Romania writer Ovidiu Tiţă
He turned up along with Paul Hitter, an anti-vaccine activist, on Friday at the VICE Romania offices.
Once inside, by telling a receptionist that they had a meeting with a VICE manager, Mărincuş criticised staff, saying that they were “progressive”, using the term as an insult, according to VICE.
Mărincuş gave up when he couldn’t find Tiţă, and did not say why he was looking for him.
But he turned to another VICE member of staff, telling her she was “beautiful” and that she had “paid for it”.
Another staff member then showed the men the door, but not before they called the VICE staff “progressive shills”.
Mărincuş added: “Shame on you. You do not represent young people in Romania.”
This is not the first time these tactics have been used in Europe by far-right activists.
In 2017, former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson, along with a staff member from the alt-right Rebel Media, stormed the offices of anti-extremism thinktank Quilliam.
He went to Quilliam because a staff member had written an article for the Guardian which mentioned him three times.
Robinson previously targeted the offices of WalesOnline, as he wanted to question a journalist who used the term “far-right” to describe him.
Also in 2017, 50 members of the far-right Identitarian Movement, attempted to storm the Justice Ministry in Germany to protest a law which would have banned hate speech.
Police arrested the leader of the Identitarian Movement and stopped the other members from gaining access.
Romania’s ruling party leader last year confirmed that the country intended to hold a referendum which would have permanently banned same-sex marriage.
Last year, a Romanian man’s legal battle held hope that it might bring sweeping new rights for gay couples across the EU.
And back in 2016, Romania was the first country to be kicked out of Eurovision.
