ROME – Security forces deployed in Italy on Oct 24 ahead of planned protests, as the police carried out a sweeping crackdown in the wake of violent clashes last weekend.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government approved tough security reforms this week following the violence, which bore similarities to protests in France.
Surveillance helicopters hovered over Milan’s central Piazza Del Duomo, soldiers in fatigues roamed in groups, and five military vehicles and a water cannon could be seen parked nearby.
Some visitors said they would leave the city centre if protests flared up.
Laia Gonzalez, 27, a waitress from near Barcelona, said she had been shocked by the images of last weekend’s violence but decided to go ahead with a weekend trip to Milan with her family.
“I was a little bit worried about coming,” she said. “I was trying to find other places to visit in case things got too violent while we’re here.”
‘Like an earthquake’
On Via Torino, where businesses were looted on Oct 18, some shop windows were boarded up to prevent further damage.
Some stores closed for the afternoon, while others waited to see whether violence erupted before deciding, with evacuation plans in place for employees.
“We are worried we’ll be hit by looting,” said Mariusz Chrupek, 35. who works at the Rinascente department store in Piazza Del Duomo. “But if nothing happens we’ll stay open.”
Monica Lodetti, 58, who runs the historic Libreria Bocca in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, said she gave refuge on Oct 17 to six young people caught in the violence before closing the shop.
“If things kick off, I’ll close the shutters and go home,” she said. “It’s like an earthquake, it’s impossible to predict”.
The demonstrations come amid protests by students, truck drivers and farmers over budget cuts and cost of living issues like housing and fuel prices.
Student groups have been highly critical of the government’s public order response and have urged it to address protest demands.
After riots and looting in Milan last weekend, the government deployed 500 soldiers to the city and approved a decree easing detention rules for minors and imposing fines on their parents for any damage done by them during demonstrations.
The police said they had carried out dozens of searches ahead of demonstrations on Oct 24.
They announced the arrest of a 30-year-old man suspected of being the figure behind the “October 17 Movement”, a group which had called the Oct 17 protests.
The government also approved financial measures to help truck drivers and fishermen cope with the spike in fuel prices seen after the Middle East war.
Truck blockades that had paralysed southern Italy, leading to fuel and food shortages for a week, have now been lifted. AFP