How the alarms spread

According to the available evidence, the messages began circulating on Monday, 19 October, first on WhatsApp, where they were forwarded from chat to chat, and then on Instagram, TikTok and Telegram. Many warnings were attributed to friends or acquaintances, and the claimed number of attackers varied between 400 and 500. The alarms followed the clashes in Milan on Saturday, 17 October, and some messages claimed the authors of that violence planned similar attacks in other cities. Il Fatto Quotidiano reported a message reading 'they want to set fire to Iulm and Bocconi', first sent by an unknown user, but said neither the reliability of the threats nor the identity of the senders had been established.

Cremona, where no march appeared

Cremona was the clearest example of the disruption. Police and carabinieri guarded schools, the railway station and the historic centre, while shopkeepers covered their windows with plywood panels and many students stayed away from class. No march took place. The Digos identified three administrators of a WhatsApp group behind the calls, and two of them, both minors, were reported free for incitement to crime and causing alarm. A 24-year-old was found to be unconnected to the affair. Officers seized computer equipment, two balaclavas, a toy pistol without its red tip and a mask from the two teenagers' homes. Separately, police stopped three young people near the railway station and found stones of various sizes in a bag.

Pavia, Ravenna and Veneto

In Pavia, carabinieri stepped up checks near the railway station, the bus station and the main schools, in line with directives from the prefect Francesca De Carlini and after numerous calls from worried parents reached the operations centre. The carabinieri said in a statement:

“Fortunately the alarms all proved to be unfounded, and patrols searched all the areas of greatest interest without finding any violence or disturbance of public order.”

In Ravenna, police guarded several institutes, and the local outlet Ravenna e dintorni reported that only 10% of enrolled students attended the city's Istituto di Ragioneria. In Veneto, regional president Alberto Stefani responded to the messages:

“Whether it is a concrete threat or a provocation, we are facing a matter of extreme gravity. The result is the same: terrified girls and families thrown into anguish.”

Stefani added that this was unacceptable. Corriere del Veneto reported that the conversations included a list of 18 female students named as possible victims.

Milan, Como and Emilia-Romagna

In Milan, screenshots shared online claimed that groups would gather at Cadorna, the Duomo, CityLife, the Navigli and Brera to hunt foreigners, and named banks, museums and universities including Bocconi, Iulm, Bicocca and Politecnico as targets. According to Corriere della Sera, as reported by Open, many workers and students stayed home, shops in the Quadrilatero emptied their windows, and Bicocca students asked professors for remote lessons. Il Giornale reported that messages announced disorders in Como for 24 October, alongside Milan, Bologna and Turin, and that fake rape lists circulated in Modena and Ferrara, where parents kept their daughters out of school. Content creator Alessia Morelli posted an Instagram story passing the warning on to her followers and urging them to be careful.

What investigators are examining

Police are going through the chats that triggered the panic, and ANSA reports that the hypothesis of a fake circulated to create fear is gaining ground. Investigators are trying to establish how and by whom the messages originated, in Como and elsewhere. The carabinieri in Pavia said their services would continue in the coming days, with particular attention to younger people.