r/woahthatsinteresting • u/zifenududo6b0o • 17d ago

The Tonca is an event in Trento, Italy, where every 19th of June a ceremonial jury sentences the local politician that committed the year's worst blunder to be locked in a cage and dunked in the river

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4.2k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

369

u/cococosupeyacam 17d ago

i think the ritual was a lot more brutal when invented

116

u/Skater144 17d ago

They should bring it back. A career in politics shouldn't be something people want.

45

u/HumbleXerxses 17d ago

No kidding! They should only want it to help make society and lives better. It's called public service for a reason. Then again, reason is something no politician has.

14

u/Brilliant-Delay1410 17d ago

Wanting it should be immediate disqualification. Career in politics should be like jury duty.

5

u/SaltyAFVet 16d ago

They should immediately become a new class of citizen that cannot own money and live like monks for the rest of their life 

3

u/AcceptableSwim8334 17d ago

I totally agree with this.

1

u/ActPuzzleheaded8516 16d ago

Then no one would do it

2

u/AcceptableSwim8334 16d ago

Like jury duty it should be mandatory.

1

u/giuseppe443 15d ago

works for me

2

u/RobinPage1987 16d ago

Sortition. Selection of public officials by lottery.

1

u/thekayinkansas 16d ago

I have held this belief for so long.

1

u/Gstacksred 10d ago

This was the way it was in parts of Chiapas Mexico. Not sure how it is now but it was definitely a cool system

1

u/Character_Crab_9458 17d ago

ISIS did this to people. I don't think they were politicians though

1

u/captain-prax 16d ago

Make it like jury duty, don't make it a profitable lifestyle. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

1

u/ActPuzzleheaded8516 16d ago

Well we do need people to do the job but it shouldn’t be a way to pad your wallet

8

u/Various-Ducks 17d ago edited 17d ago

Ya they used deeper waters. But it was always meant as a form of public humiliation. It was not a capital punishment. Unless a rope slips.

Sadly, it wasnt used on politicians when invented. Historically, this was a punishment for people who spoke or acted against the church or the ideals of the church or otherwise acted "immorally", as determined by the church. If you didn't put enough money in the donation basket, smiled at a girl outside of marriage, or refused the advances of a drunk priest, you went in the river.

1

u/Healthy_Pay9449 17d ago

Cut the rope and check back in 2 hours

158

u/WiggilyReturns 17d ago

Ended too soon? I just watched a CEO over here get killed. Come on Italy!

74

u/Professional_Fee5883 17d ago

To be fair, the guy who offed the CEO is named Luigi.

42

u/Slowly-Slipping 17d ago

You know what? Respect to Italy.

9

u/hectorxander 17d ago

He is being framed, is innocent.

5

u/Voodoobones 17d ago

Allegedly.

4

u/Caperplays 17d ago

Mamma Mia!

3

u/IgnisFlux 17d ago

allegedly

3

u/ass_whiskers 17d ago

Fair enough.

2

u/ActPuzzleheaded8516 16d ago

They said it was for blunders, not killing with lack of insurance

70

u/FR_WST 17d ago

I'm sure this has nice origins

29

u/herrirgendjemand 17d ago

No this originated in Italy. Not france

16

u/stlmick 17d ago

In the Italian political justice system, wine and cheese related offenses are considered especially heinous.

7

u/ousho 17d ago

I’m sure we can sit down, break pasta and talk about this.

2

u/truffles76 17d ago

So it's just called 'sparkling torture'

1

u/Middle_Trouble_7884 15d ago

Nice was Italian or part of Italian kingdoms/reigns time ago, including when this originated probably. It wasn't Nice, but Nizza however

1

u/BourneBond007 8d ago

Nice fact!

1

u/Old_Harry7 14d ago

Nice was an Italian city tho

1

u/herrirgendjemand 14d ago

Nope

1

u/Old_Harry7 14d ago

Si

1

u/herrirgendjemand 14d ago

When was this? When it belonged to the duchy of Savoy?

1

u/Old_Harry7 14d ago

Oui

1

u/herrirgendjemand 14d ago

Ahh so a Savoyard city, not Italian. Nice was in French control before the kingdom of Italy existed

1

u/Old_Harry7 14d ago

Being part of a culture ≠ being part of a state

2

u/Brillek 16d ago

Started as public humiliation for those who spoke up against authority or stuff the church disagreed with.

Still public humiliation, but now it's one politician annually.

32

u/Chrundle_DaGreat 17d ago

Enough dithering! Dunk the miscreant!

7

u/Mrbananagrabbr 17d ago

Ted!Ted!Ted!Ted!

27

u/Liquid_Lizzard 17d ago

That rope looks mighty thin

6

u/ousho 17d ago

Not thin enough.

3

u/deyw75 16d ago

on purpose ?

18

u/kudukobapav37888 17d ago

Such a beautiful holiday

11

u/PineappleCommon7572 17d ago

Nicceee. Most of the politician and rich people have blood on their hands. They should bring this idea over to the US.

9

u/Remsster 17d ago

They did, thanks to Luigi

6

u/PineappleCommon7572 17d ago

He is a true hero.

3

u/Hereiam_AKL 17d ago

You would need to "Dunk the Trump" every f*ing year because he made the 365 biggest blunders.

But because he's known as Diaper Don for a reason, you'd end up having human faeces in the river.

2

u/Flimsy-Feature1587 17d ago

"Dunk the Trump"

Imagine how he'd shriek when it'd muss up his hair after he'd be raised up, spluttering, to thousands of jeers.

OMG, he'd look bad!

Sad!

3

u/Another_ShitShow 17d ago

imagine all the orange stain

2

u/Flimsy-Feature1587 17d ago

"You can't dunk me! I'm the great...glurgle blurble glurgle...don't you know who I am?"

and every year, the people drank Tang while wearing an orange cat toupee in memoriam

1

u/PineappleCommon7572 17d ago

Savage. He rather just be locked up forever.

8

u/H345Y 17d ago

What level of blunder are we talking about here, like a public gaff?

2

u/Cultural-Debt11 17d ago

He said that this guy is a member of city hall council that 'first challenged the mayor, but then decided to remain on the comfy seat of piazza dante (the address where the city hall is)', maybe meaning he tried to run for elections against him, lost, and decided to stay on his side as a council member? I have no idea.

1

u/roadrunner83 14d ago

Piazza Dante is where the provincial governament is located, the city hall is in Via Bellenzani, so he initially challenged the sitting mayor but then backed down from running as mayor of the city otherwise he had to first renounce to his seat in the provincial council.

8

u/anynameisfinejeez 17d ago

No way that could go wrong.

4

u/HomieeJo 16d ago

Thought so too but I think it's unrealistic that he gets out when the cage is at the bottom of the river. So everything should work as planned.

1

u/anynameisfinejeez 16d ago

I see what you did there and I respect it. 😄

6

u/Various-Ducks 17d ago edited 17d ago

Fun fact: this guy is Franco Ianeselli, mayor of trento, and he was dunked for excessive use of speed cameras. The runner up, Maurizio Fugatti, who was not dunked, was accused of delaying the construction of a hospital. Priorities.

Also, it takes place on the sunday before june 26th, not "every june 19th", and was historically a punishment for "blasphemers".

Its also not reserved exclusively for politicians, but it typically ends up being a politician, because, politicians.

1

u/ntasmm 16d ago

Are you from Trento?

1

u/TiminatorFL 16d ago

Si.

1

u/ntasmm 15d ago

Concittadino 🫡

0

u/turboevoluzione 16d ago

For the record it's not actually Ianeselli getting dunked but an actor, Giorgio Vianini (who sadly passed away a couple weeks ago)

5

u/Flimsy-Poetry1170 17d ago

I don’t see any way this could go wrong lol.

5

u/[deleted] 17d ago

These shark cage wrestling matches are getting out of hand

4

u/Frostygrunt 17d ago

Anyone know what made this guy the most guilty? Most be hard to win this one politics since they all mostly suck.

3

u/Plumpasonic 17d ago

Meanwhile in Syria…

3

u/Indrid__C0ld 17d ago

Meanwhile they still over there fishing

3

u/TinyRascalSaurus 17d ago

Dude is clearly loving this. Look at his face.

3

u/VegasBusSup 17d ago

They pull him right out, though, right?

3

u/tjohnson530 17d ago

Petition to have this be a new tradition in American politics???

2

u/brieeevans 17d ago

We need this in the states

2

u/Ambitious_Welder6613 17d ago

Need this in my country.

2

u/RickyTheRickster 17d ago

Where would the US even start?

2

u/husband1971 17d ago

That’s a lot of trust in the hands of the guy on the other end of the rope.

2

u/BP-arker 17d ago

This should be adopted in the USA

2

u/WebberWilsans 17d ago

Now tell me why I thought this was Joe and Sal from impractical jokers

1

u/SokkaHaikuBot 17d ago

Sokka-Haiku by WebberWilsans:

Now tell me why I

Thought this was Joe and Sal from

Impractical jokers

Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.

2

u/Crazy-4-Conures 17d ago

Looks like he barely got his feet wet.

2

u/flippinfreak73 17d ago

So what happens if the cables ever snap?

2

u/Various-Ducks 17d ago

I thought it would be deeper

2

u/BDiddnt 16d ago

This is going to end badly one year

1

u/SnooCats7919 17d ago

Juneteenth is getting turned up.

1

u/Bustedbootstraps 17d ago

If he floats, is he a witch?

1

u/jamesonbar 17d ago

Ted day

1

u/Thom5001 17d ago

Sponsored by Isis

1

u/ClockworkBJEveryday 17d ago

Under the bridge.

1

u/halapert 17d ago

another Italian w

1

u/BambooPanda26 17d ago

Oh I thought they were going to unalive him.

1

u/n2bndru 17d ago

What happens if the line breaks....

1

u/Flufflebuns 17d ago

This is much more carefree than the similar ISIS version I regret watching many years ago.

1

u/HawkKhan 17d ago

This is reminds me of isis from middle east

1

u/satori-seeker 17d ago

I was expecting him to go down all the way over his head at least for a second. This is no punishment

1

u/ScooterMcFlabbin 17d ago

Lmao I thought for sure there were going to dunk him. Like completely submerged. 

1

u/ResolveLeather 17d ago

He is smiling because he "accidentally" shared tifa-cloud porn on the parliament floor.

1

u/Nervous_Proposal_574 17d ago

I hope the water quality is better than in the UK.

1

u/microtherion 16d ago

The neat thing about this ceremony is that it encourages all politicians to maintain some water quality standards in the river.

1

u/FranceBrun 17d ago

Those madcap and lighthearted Italians!!!

1

u/Valuable-Leather-914 17d ago

So much better than the one we do in America

1

u/KinopioToad 17d ago

When can we bring this to the US?

1

u/cjp2010 17d ago

I have a great idea for a c list level horror movie. “River jaws” starts with this ceremony and as the politician is being dunked and everyone is laughing and joking a large shark attacks and eats the cage and then the city spends the next 90 minute movie fighting the shark. OR a cabin in the woods level twist where this ceremony is to appease a river god that will destroy Italy if they don’t do this ceremony.

1

u/thugnificenthd 17d ago

Don't fuck up ;)

1

u/Pal_76 16d ago

It should be here too.i don't have to mention where is here because everyone would agree with my statement

1

u/MisterSirDudeGuy 16d ago

I definitely wouldn’t trust that. Looks like a good way to achieve an accidental death.

1

u/Colossal-Dump 16d ago

Dunked, or pulled behind the boat like a parade?

1

u/regular6drunk7 16d ago

While in Strasbourg, France I saw a bridge where they used to execute criminals. They would tie them up in a sack and throw them in. It was even worse than it sounds because the river was where the town sewage was dumped. So you were basically drowning in poop water.

1

u/Own_Kangaroo_7715 16d ago

We should do this in America but we should just drop the cage off Niagra Falls.

1

u/Tickled_Pits 16d ago

I wish we could do this with Trudeau. Snap whoops..... 🤷🏼‍♀️

1

u/Accurate-Tax4363 16d ago

Oops, the rope accidentally broke.

1

u/Argorian17 16d ago

They couldn't have that in the US: no billionaires would accept a non-heated river.

1

u/Effedieffe 16d ago

In reality, a stuntman is put in the cage, while in the "sentence" the name of the real politician is given.

1

u/TooManyLangs 16d ago

I think it's time we adapt and change the goat for a politician: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_throwing

1

u/TR3BPilot 16d ago

And after that, they do a Wicker Man.

1

u/EWALTHARI 16d ago

A beatiful tradition.

1

u/SoZur 16d ago

Babe, wake up, the newest ISIS execution video just dropped!

1

u/Stuff1989 16d ago

what happens when the cable snaps?

2

u/roadrunner83 14d ago

there is a dam mid way to Verona

1

u/Stuff1989 14d ago

lol jesus

1

u/beefs_supreme 16d ago

I was thinking this was gonna be one of those “when things go bad…” videos and homie drowns in the cage.

1

u/Beautiful_Rich_7361 16d ago

I wish they'd do this in the UK! Politicians are useless here. 😑

1

u/ob1pad01 16d ago

The audience looks bored since they only dunked the person up to their knees. It's like dunking an oreo cookie.

1

u/semperfestivus 16d ago

Wow , that is great. Reaffirms who is really in charge. We need this .

1

u/Spankh0us3 16d ago

If they did that in the US, they would need a much wider river to fit all of the cages in. . .

1

u/Mediocre-Message4260 16d ago

So it’s like Ted Day in Pawnee, Indiana.

1

u/Proper-Cause-4153 16d ago

This looks like it should be in r/whatcouldgowrong

1

u/sodone19 16d ago

What could go wrong

1

u/ActPuzzleheaded8516 16d ago

That’s awful

1

u/MisterInternational1 16d ago

I saw a dip, not a dunk

I think this needs to be reinstated with a massive dunk. And they should just let all politicians be dunked every year so they remember who they’re working for

1

u/nooneknowsme9 16d ago

it must have been brutal back then.

1

u/Other-Competition143 15d ago

Then what happens?

1

u/Qroww 15d ago

I live in Trento. They don't actually put the "guilty" in the cage but a stunt and while they lower him/she 3 times, someone reads the crimes committed out loud.

1

u/TrekJen 12d ago

Ah yes. The traditions of the motherland.

1

u/Anno909 12d ago

CEO! CEO!! CEO!!! /s

1

u/tinglep 12d ago

Interesting way to celebrate the freeing of the slaves in America.

1

u/JustBennyLenny 12d ago

I kid you not, there used to be a video of ISIS that did the same with fire, extremely uneasy footage very brutal and graphic because they didn't stop they wend until he was dead, I do not wish that on my worst enemies not even a CEO, it was truly messed up beyond words.

1

u/Turbulent-Surround39 12d ago

Make you think about your consequences

1

u/Dependent-Donkey-736 12d ago

I can think of plenty of politicians who deserve this, forget the cage and give them cement shoes.

1

u/Mysterious_Clerk2971 12d ago

”Donald can't hold his breath very long” - Melania

1

u/PatriciaTB 11d ago

Hyperventilating just watching this

1

u/PoliticallyUnbiased 10d ago

Someone should put Kamala in that cage lol, worst blunder of the decade

1

u/Guidoacg 8d ago

So if that rope holding his cage snaps…he dies. Smart ?

1

u/Beautiful-Owl-3216 6d ago

We should have a vote for who is the worst member of US Congress every year and do this except cut the rope and let them get washed out to sea.

1

u/krolbear 6d ago

Why would you expect local politicians to blunder? Seems like they could, easily all not blunder and do their jobs well.

1

u/Bumbo3184 3d ago

We should bring this to the USA

0

u/Redarmy007 17d ago

Shoot got too excited and mistook him for Ted Cruz.....

1

u/miativg 1d ago

Immagino tutti gli americani che non capiscono una sega di cosa dice il tizio.