Venice mayor says anyone shouting 'Allahu akbar' in St. Mark's Square will be shot by police

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has declared that anybody who shouts "Allahu akbar" in the city's famous St. Mark's Square will be gunned down by the police "after three steps."

During a conference at Rimini, Brugnaro reportedly said that he has told officers to target anyone who shouts "Allahu akbar," which is Arabic for God is Greater.

"If anyone runs into St Mark's Square shouting 'Allahu akbar' we will take him down. A year ago, I said after four steps. Now, after three," the controversial mayor said, according to Independent, citing The Times.

The Arabic phrase frequently appears in Muslim daily life, and it is repeated four times during the call to prayer, which takes place five times a day.

Brugnaro, who prided himself on not being "politically correct," boasted that Venice was safer than Barcelona, where 13 people were recently killed in a van attack last week.

The mayor recounted that Italian police were able to foil a terror attempt to blow up the city's Rialto Bridge in March.

"In Venice, we arrested four terrorists who wanted to blow up the Rialto Bridge, saying they wanted to go to Allah. But we'll send them straight to Allah before they can do any damage," he said.

Some attendees at the conference did not appear to take Brugnaro's comments seriously. Shortly after he made the remarks, Florence's Mayor Dario Nardella reportedly rushed up to Brugnaro shouting "Allahu akbar," prompting laughter from other members of the audience. Nardella later issued an apology to people who thought that his joke trivialized terrorism or mocked Islam.

Brugnaro has been known for his controversial stances, which included a ban on books about homosexuality in Venice's schools.

After he became mayor two years ago, he removed 49 books about same-sex relationships from the city's schools, prompting more than 250 Italian authors to demand that he take away their books as well.

A month later, he sought to ban gay pride parades from the city, describing them as the "height of kitsch."

Following the attacks in Barcelona, Italy has stepped up the security in major tourist attractions in Milan, Rome, Bologna and Turin. While Italy has not experienced any attacks recently, ISIS has repeatedly warned that the country is on its hit list.

A 2016 survey by Pew Research Center has indicated that Italy has the fourth-largest Muslim population in Europe. There are 2.2. million Muslims — about four percent of the total population — currently living in the country.