Martina Miccichè was filming riot police kicking and beating a teenager with batons as they dragged him along Piazza del Duomo, the central Milan square hosting its cathedral, when she was struck by a flying object, causing a deep gash and bruising near her right eye. The journalist had joined hundreds of mostly young people marching through the northern Italian city on Saturday afternoon to protest over soaring living costs and unaffordable housing, echoing the wider wave of economic discontent fuelling protests across Europe. It wasn’t the first time Italy’s youth have loudly aired their grievances during Giorgia Meloni’s four years as prime minister, despite the risk of falling foul of her ruling coalition’s ever-expanding crackdown on security and public dissent.
On Saturday afternoon they plan to protest again in Milan and other major Italian cities. Miccichè said the atmosphere last Saturday was peaceful until about 5pm, when police blocked access to Via Broletto, a street about a 10-minute walk away from Piazza del Duomo. They started to grab people at random, hitting and kicking them.
It was shocking.” As the clashes continued and police filled the square with teargas while astonished tourists looked on, a group of masked youths on the fringes headed to the surrounding fashion district, tearing down road signs, setting bins alight and smashing shop windows – among them Footlocker and Levi’s – then looting them. The vandalism resumed on Sunday as the gangs – many baited by the promise of luxury goods through a network of social media chats – descended on the city centre again, mostly from marginalised areas on the outskirts. During the two days of unrest, police detained more than 271 young people.
Of those, 32 were arrested, including 23 minors and 13 foreign nationals. As the Italian media published images of injured police officers, Meloni’s government rapidly enacted more measures targeting minors and further empowering the police – including holding parents financially accountable for their children’s vandalism and looting – while dispatching 500 troops to Milan. The latest legislation also criminalises violent participation in a demonstration and toughens penalties for rioters.
Some of the government’s security measures are now being applied in the south of Italy, where lorry drivers have been protesting against high petrol prices for more than a week, blocking roads and disrupting supermarket supplies. In response, 71 people have been reported to judicial authorities and 242 fined over the blockades – a protest act made illegal in a previous security bill. A government official also warned the lorry drivers that obstructing public highways could carry jail terms.
There is anger in the south over fuel prices and young people everywhere are angry – they don’t even have a chance to think about the future because they are so terrified of the present.” Furthermore, “we are not feeling safe”, the 34-year-old added, “because we can see how much space the police have now and how shielded they are”. Racial profiling had become the norm in Milan, especially in the centre and close to its train stations, she claimed. The weekend’s urban unrest, including protests in Turin and Bologna, has intensified debate over Italy’s “lost generation”.
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