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The Mayor of Macerata cannot wait for the Italian election campaign to end.
In a matter of weeks, Romano Carancini has seen his small idyllic city become the focus of a volatile debate around the future of immigration in Italy.
"It is like looking at yourself in the mirror and you don't recognise yourself any more," he said.
"This is quite a strange thing for a city that has always seen itself in a certain way, and overnight sees itself reflected back."
On February 3, Mr Carancini was at a Saturday morning meeting when the police called him to say there was a gunman on the loose in Macerata.
"I immediately issued an alert to guarantee the security of the schools and the residents. Of course, then we saw the results — six people injured, all black, who had been shot by Luca Traini."
The twenty-eight-year-old Mr Traini had driven through the city in his Alfa Romeo, aiming his Glock pistol at anyone he thought was of African descent.
Mr Traini, who had previously been a political candidate for the anti-immigration Northern League, drove to a Mussolini-era monument, parked his car, gave a fascist salute and was arrested by police soon after.
He said he was acting to avenge the killing of Pamela Mastropietro, an 18-year-old whose dismembered remains were found outside Macerata days earlier. It is alleged she was killed by a Nigerian immigrant.
Mr Triani's lawyer Giancarlo Giulianelli said that since the shooting spree he had received disturbing messages of support for his client's actions from around the country.
"They are coming from the north, the islands, the south, from central Italy, from Rome, Gorizia, Pordenone, Sardinia," he said.
Mr Giulianelli has no sympathy for Mr Triani's actions but believes there has been a failure of political leadership in Italy when it comes to immigration.
"The left has allowed an indiscriminate flow of migrants. The right on the other hand have exploited the discontent, depicting it with forms of racism and xenophobia," he said.
"Both are mistaken.
"Italians want to be welcoming, but in such a way that it doesn't hamper their co-existence."
The Northern League, the party Mr Triani once represented, has now rebranded itself as "League" to appeal to voters in the south.
Its leader Matteo Salvini has promised to expel half a million migrants from the country if he wins government.
Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has also campaigned hard on the issue, describing illegal immigration as "a social time bomb ready to go off".
Mr Berlusconi's party Forza Italia and League have formed a right-wing coalition with the Brothers of Italy and could potentially win enough votes to form a government.
Their anti-immigration rhetoric seems to be appealing to a large number of voters.
But migrants say the debate has turned ugly and made them feel unwelcome in Italy.
Dr Daniel Amanze came to his adopted country 36 years ago from Nigeria.
The migrant support centre he runs in Macerata has received death threats in the past few weeks.
"Normally they tell us that we have to go home, otherwise 'we might end up like that girl that died'," he said.
Dr Amanze thinks the likes of Mr Berlusconi will struggle to meet their promises on immigration.
"These people, when they were in the government, they were not able to control migration. So, I think even after the election they can't do much. It's only about getting more votes," he said.
For the Mayor of Macerata, the election campaign, and its focus on events in his city, has brought out the worst in his country's politics.
"It has been exploited in the national political debate and that is what I dislike the most.
"This has hit the city very hard. It has been really traumatic seeing people being shot in Macerata, people who have a different skin colour."
Topics: world-politics, elections, italy
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