More than 150 searches carried out in over 20 Italian cities, stepped-up security checks, shops shielded with protective panels and police deployed in the squares. It is a tense Saturday in Italy, with dozens of demonstrations expected following last weekend’s violent unrest.
Police operations were concentrated mainly between Milan, Monza and other Lombard cities, involving numerous young people, including university and high school students, many of them minors with no prior criminal record.
The investigations were triggered by a WhatsApp chat discovered on the phone of one of the suspects involved in the Milan clashes. The conversations reportedly included messages urging people to attack police officers, seize their weapons, damage patrol cars and set buildings on fire.
According to Tg1, police have also identified the alleged administrator of the October 17 Movement’s Instagram page — a thirty-year-old Italian of Moroccan origin living in the Brescia area, who was brought to police headquarters in Milan for questioning.
Meanwhile, in Rome, an anti-militarist march set off from Piazza della Repubblica under the slogan “Get Italy out of the war.” Demonstrators are protesting against rearmament and NATO, calling for an end to military support for Ukraine.
Checks were also carried out in Bari, where searches and seizures are underway as part of investigations examining, among other things, crimes linked to incitement to riot and looting with terrorist intent. In the hours before, several teenagers aged between 15 and 18 had been stopped, found carrying balaclavas and pyrotechnic materials.
In Trieste, meanwhile, police intercepted a group of young people allegedly gathering stones and harassing passersby. During the checks, officers found items that could be used as weapons, along with balaclavas.
High alert was also maintained in Milan, Turin, Bologna, Florence and Padua, where several shop owners decided to close their businesses or protect their storefronts ahead of the planned demonstrations.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi confirmed that security measures had been strengthened in the cities considered most at risk.
“Today looks set to be a somewhat complicated day. There are advance notices of demonstrations that could affect several cities, mostly from Rome northward, but we are ready to respond to any protest that may arise anywhere,” he said.
Regarding possible episodes of violence, the minister assured: “There will be great firmness in suppressing phenomena that have proven to be so intense, complex and violent.”
