(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 8 - The United States government has recognized Italy's concern about the violent treatment of Matteo Falcinelli, a 25-year-old from Spoleto who was hogtied by Miami police for 13 minutes after being arrested outside a nightclub in the Florida city in February.
    "We acknowledge the concerns raised by the Italian government and the Falcinelli family about the circumstances of Matteo's arrest in Miami," a US State Department spokesperson told ANSA when asked about the matter.
    "We understand that the police have opened an internal investigation into the case and we will continue to monitor these developments.
    "The US State Department works diligently to ensure that US law enforcement agencies comply with their legal obligations regarding notification and consular access when foreign nationals are detained in the United States, in accordance with the applicable national law and with international obligations, in the same manner that we expect foreign governments to treat U.S. citizens abroad." Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is among those to have condemned the violence Falcinelli was subjected to, saying he was "deeply shocked" by it.
    Police Bodycam videos show the 25-year-old being slammed to the ground outside a night club and then tied up, with his ankles bound and his hands behind his back, at a police station.
    During the videos Falcinelli can be heard to say "I'm not resisting", "please", "I'm not doing anything" and, at one point, screaming in pain.
    Speaking via his mother Vlasta Studenicova to ANSA this week, Falcinelli, whose case emerged over the weekend, said "I am touched by the support I have been receiving in these hours, also Italian citizens here in the United States.
    "Now I want justice".
    Tajani said Tuesday he was satisfied by the US State Department's statement on the case.
    "I was pleased to hear the statements made today in the United States: the federal government is following the affair with concern, so it has responded positively to our request for clarification," said Tajani.
    "The words coming from Washington go in the direction we requested, to protect the young Italian arrested in February in ways that I did not like at all", said Tajani.
    "I have noticed," he added, "that in a timely manner they have distanced themselves (from the alleged police brutality)." Falcinelli's mother also hailed the State Department's words.
    "It's good news," Vlasta Studenicova told ANSA after saying she was getting in touch with lawyers with the help of the Italian consulate in Miami.
    "The consulate has already contacted one of the lawyers who handled the case of (police fatal brutality victim) George Floyd," she said.
    "Another lawyer in Los Angeles contacted Matteo directly and we heard from him yesterday".
    Floyd was a 46-year-old black American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.
    Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, causing his death from a lack of oxygen.
    The case spurred the Black Lives Matter movement. (ANSA).