Rromani Ethnics Stab US Journalist In Romania

The two aggressors, father and son, attacked the American journalist , bothered by his accent, as well as by the fact that he did not want to give up his camera and notebook, where he had written down some of the customs and traditions of that community.

After they punched and kicked him, Mihai and Iulian Balaceanu tried to stab journalist Chuck Todaro with a hunting knife. He got scared and ran away, while his camera fell from his pocket and wound up in the hands of the attackers.

Todaro notified the police, which arrested the two for a few hours. Upon search, one of them was found to hold the journalist’s camera, but the knife had been abandoned somewhere near the place where the fight occurred.

"American citizen Chuck Todaro filed a complaint against the two, who are currently investigated for assault and battery. The victim should go to a forensics unit to receive a medical certificate that might indicate the number of days he spends under medical care, which will have effect on the sentence of the two," said Mihaela Straub, spokesman within the Vaslui County Police Inspectorate.

Todaro has spent two years in Romania, writing reports about 150 Rromani communities throughout the country. He says that this is an isolated case and that it should not create a negative image about the Rromani community in Vaslui, with which, aside from this, he has worked very well.