Bresci had thought of killing Italian King Umberto I when he lived in Italy. After emigrating to the United States, he was introduced to anarchist and propaganda of the deed advocate Giuseppe Ciancabilla via the anarchist organizer Errico Malatesta. While Bresci was influenced by Ciancabilla and the continued suppression of popular revolt in Italy, he was particularly affected by the 1898 Bava Beccaris massacre, in which dozens of people were murdered during the Milanese bread riots over the rising price of bread, for which the king awarded a medal to General Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris.