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Italy counts the cost of protests: 28 arrests, 104 officers hurt in Milan
Italy has tallied the toll from clashes in Milan, Turin and Bologna during “Italia in Piazza” protests over the cost of living: 28 people arrested and 104 officers treated in hospitals in Milan alone. Prime Minister Meloni said demonstrating is a right but setting cities ablaze is not.
The toll from the cost-of-living protests that spread from France to Italy has become clearer. According to official figures reported by Sky TG24, 197 people were identified nationwide after Saturday’s demonstrations, 28 were arrested and 43 were reported to prosecutors.
The protests were called by the “Italia in Piazza” network, organized largely on social media, against living costs, fuel prices and the tax burden, but they turned into clashes with police in several cities.
Milan hit hardest
In Milan, where about 5,000 people marched, 72 were taken to police headquarters and 17 arrested, nine of them minors. The number of officers treated in the city’s hospitals reached 104. Protesters smashed the windows of a Foot Locker store and set a Carabinieri car on fire; the business association Confcommercio estimates the damage at more than half a million euros.
Footage shows Italian police giving first aid to a man injured in the head during the scuffles.
Clashes in Turin and Bologna
In Turin, where around 3,000 marched, protesters stormed the Feltrinelli bookstore at Porta Nuova and toppled shelves; three youths were caught with incendiary bottles. In Bologna, 38 police officers and six Carabinieri were injured in clashes near the train station, and five minors were arrested. Stones and firecrackers were also thrown at police in Bergamo and Brescia.
Milan’s Piazza del Duomo was the scene of some of the fiercest moments.
Meloni: torching cities is not a right
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, “Demonstrating is a right. Setting our cities ablaze is not,” and urged the opposition not to be “ambiguous” about the violence. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said “whoever breaks things pays” and proposed requiring organizers to provide a financial guarantee. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said the violence against police and the serious damage to the city were “unjustifiable.”
Police say those involved were young people who came in small groups from the city outskirts and other provinces, many of them minors. Palestinian flags were also unfurled at the protests.
A wave of anger across Europe
The cost-of-living protests are not limited to Italy and France. In Belgium, police used tear gas and water cannon in Brussels and Liège, while tens of thousands marched in Portugal against low wages and soaring housing costs.
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