A Kiss Is Just a Kiss? Smooch on Lips for Alleged Mobster Intrigues Italy
- Posted on June 11, 2011 at 10:57pm by
Scott Baker
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AP
ROME (AP) — A kiss is just a kiss, perhaps. But what does a smooch mean when it’s planted on the lips of an alleged mobster by another man?
Observers of Italy‘s organized crime syndicates have been trying to trying to figure out the meaning of the kiss earlier this week by a young man in a crowd of onlookers outside Naples police headquarters as Daniele D’Agnese was about to be hustled into a squad car.
D’Agnese was captured Wednesday, after two years on the run, along with fellow fugitive Carmine Amato, reputed chieftain of the Amato-Pagano crime clan in the Naples-based Camorra syndicate, in a house in an area of quarries on the city’s outskirts.
Four men in their 20s told police they wanted to greet D’Agnese, considered by investigators to be Amato’s bodyguard, before he was taken to jail, according to Naples daily Il Mattino, which quoted one of them as saying “we haven’t seen him in two years.”
Although police tried to move the four back from the entrance of the police headquarters while D’Agnese emerged, one pushed forward, and while photographers and videographers caught the moment, the man embraced D’Agnese, then planted a firm kiss on his mouth.
Turin daily La Stampa’s correspondent in Naples wrote that the kiss was an “obvious gesture to the eyes of clan rivals” that foot soldiers in the Amato-Pagano crime family would still be loyal, despite the arrests.
Many mob bosses continue to run their crime families from behind bars, through messages given to visiting spouses or children, prosecutors say.
The kiss might also be meant to signal reassurance to D’Agnese that his family would continue to be cared for while behind bars.
Also being puzzled over were the T-shirts both Amato and D’Agnese were wearing when arrested. Each sported a shirt with an image of James Dean, the late U.S. actor. La Stampa noted another alleged clan member, Cesare Pagano, was also wearing a James Dean T-shirt when arrested a few months ago.
Some comments on Italian web sites have interpreted the shirt choice as being a way for mobsters to show they’re all in the same clan, while others wondered if they were trying to identify with an actor whose roles depicted youthful rebellion and boldness.
Offices of Naples prosecutors specializing in Camorra probes were closed for the day Saturday.
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Comments (69)
GodsDotr
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 10:07amThey’re making way too much of this.
Report Post »mr.goodvibe
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 9:39amThese James Dean shirts are FABULOUS!
Report Post »wingedwolf
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 9:34ambacca da morta?
Report Post »ShyMan
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 9:26amI think it means, “This is how they do it on the Jersey Shore.”
Report Post »onejimharris
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 8:49amPassed a key to his handcuffs
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 7:56amAs time goes by?
Report Post »mikester8888
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 7:47amHey if the dude gets lonely he can always twitter little Anthony Weiner. Anthony will keep his creative inner feelings growing and it wont be illegal either. The dems can still vote for him an everybodys happy.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 7:55amWeiner is into little boys now? Next week: Goats.
Report Post »curmudgeon60
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 7:42amIt’s a sign of betrayal ALA Judas Iscariot!!
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 7:22amWhat does it mean? How about gay.
Report Post »goobert
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 3:36amwow i kissed a frog
Report Post »psadie
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 3:18amIn the Godfather II, Michael kisses his brother, Fredo, on the lips full mouth, when he realized that he betrayed him. A couple of months later, Michael had Fredo killed and dumped his body in Lake Tahoe. I would be looking over my shoulder in prison.
Report Post »Akbarjonnie Shaheed
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 1:31amHard to really tell anything these days. Were these two women?
Report Post »Freedom Keeper
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:33amItalian tradition………..
Report Post »Bob_R_OathKeeper
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 2:28amYeah, gay Italians, meaning happy of course. (LOL)
Report Post »kevinUofA
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:25amif its part of the culture then why try and make it an issue
Report Post »N37BU6
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:22amSo… his lips aren’t under his nose?
Report Post »Fina Biscotti
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:17amRepublicorp posted:
“Would depend on who did the planting…. if they are good friends or family it would be a sign of support. A stranger or a foe ….not so good?”
**********
BINGO!
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 1:27amFina … godfather movies give most a distorted view of Italians
Report Post »eat-more-bacon-USA
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:17amIf loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
Report Post »101
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:49amThats just wrong!
Report Post »USAMEDIC3008
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 2:40amYour right
Report Post »Goodgriefgeezlouise
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:05amItalian wiener?
Report Post »Goodgriefgeezlouise
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:10amWeiner typo
Report Post »nomercy63
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:55pmI think folks have forgotten these are the biggest losers in the world along with the French, he is just trying to warm him up of what to expect in prison.
Report Post »Nolanhargrove
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:42pmAll I will say is on this is ‘get a room’
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 1:39pmIf you see two Italian men kiss….. why don’t you tell them that
Report Post »See what that buys ya.
wurksux58
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:31pmthat’s so gay!!
Report Post »Reptillica
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:13pmCould be the kiss of death …..or they’re just gay.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:02amPretty much sums up the options….
Report Post »Bob_R_OathKeeper
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 2:23amYep, the choice is very limited here folks.
Report Post »nacilbuper
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:11pmI know it was you, you broke my heart….
Report Post »GdHUs
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:20pmYeah, I was thinking the same thing.
Report Post »101
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 1:31amGodfather II: You broke my heart Fredo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcFlp6kl508&feature=related
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 2:38amYou taste like corn, Frito.
Report Post »rayblue
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:03pmPassing something along through the mouth.
Report Post »message, drug, bullet…
common trick.
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:08pmI can hear the singing:
“A kiss is just a kiss…unless..it comes from the Godfathers own man…then you had run…before he gets his fun…fitting you out for concrete shoes….”
Report Post »randy
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:43pmYep,passing something, then swallowed, he’ll fish it out of the toilet later…
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 2:35amDid the kiss have tongue? If it did, it might be an entirely different message.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 10:58pmIf they are following most common traditions as I understand it…Sayonara maifoso…
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:20pmBeing of Italian descent……. no big deal. Family kiss
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:22pmBut what does a smooch mean when it’s planted on the lips of an alleged mobster by another man?
Report Post »———
Depends.
On if tongues were involved
**ducks**
RepubliCorp
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 11:43pmWould depend on who did the planting…. if they are good friends or family it would be a sign of support. A stranger or a foe ….not so good?
Report Post »Florida_Freedom_Fighter
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:04amLooks like nothing to me, kiss on cheek good-bye
Report Post »101
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 12:47amIt means death, the family is going to kill you!
Luv you my brother but you crossed the line & the next time we see you, you will die!
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 2:34amIn Greenwich Villiage, its called foreplay.
Report Post »Physicist_In_Training
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 4:23amHuh…”A kiss is just a kiss.”
Are you familiar at all with the logical term “tautology?” In the field of logic, a “tautology” is a statement which is always true, but imparts no knowledge. The classic example of a tautology is “A is A.”
Report Post »joe3
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 6:25amthe scorpians in that part of the world have a fatal sting that leaves a perfect kiss mark on the skin, like a lipstick kiss mark. that likely is the kiss of death, in public. an ancient custom. thats my best guess.
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 6:29amJust warming him up for Bubba in the Big House.
Report Post »joe3
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 6:35amyou guys need to check out jordan maxwells interviews and speeches on youtube, he is the expert on all of that stuff. hes also one of the top experts on communism and its filthy history. this man will put the fear of death into you. naziism and communism are all spawned from the occult. its a hidden history that has undermined every aspect of this rare wonderful highlight in human history we all know as free humanity. only in america. if you want to know the evil we are faced with as americans spend some time learning from jordan maxwell. his website is great on top of that.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 10:44amrepublicorp is probably correct – family kiss.
(yep, ferrari is italian)
could they be gay? sure, why not.
could they be passing something? sure, but why not use a woman?
On the other hand, that whole James Dean thing kinda makes it
WAY GAY-ER.
Report Post »Wayner
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 1:41pmLooks queer to me.
Report Post »NeoFan
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 9:37pmWhy is this news in Europe? Why suddenly are things sexual now news in the evolved Europe.
Report Post »Didn’t Americans receive years and years of lectures from Europeans about how we were overly obsessed with the naked body and stupid ideas like children were not supposed to have sex with adults. My My how things have changed. Could it be their new overlords are putting pressure on them to become more chased? Is the age of consent there still 12 years old or has it changed with the new prayer addicted leadership?
This_Individual
Posted on June 13, 2011 at 12:01amDescent has nothing to do with it. I’m one generation out of Italy and a PROUD American, & guys who prefer to express themselves in that manner are gay here in America and in Italy.
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