Digos runs over 50 searches in 13 Italian cities after cost-of-living protest violence

Searches in 13 cities

Digos officers began searches at dawn on 14 November in 13 Italian cities. Tgcom24 reported that more than 50 searches had been ordered, while Il Fatto Quotidiano wrote that at least 50 people had been checked. Investigators describe those searched as mostly young people, some of them minors, suspected of having promoted or incited violence during recent demonstrations. The Polizia di Stato, which announced the operation, said the checks concern young people who emerged in the course of the investigation. The violence under inquiry includes the 17 October march in Milan, when some people smashed shop windows and looted stores in the city centre.

Rallies planned for the afternoon

Several demonstrations were set for the afternoon of 14 November in four cities. In Milan, a rally at 14:00 in piazza Leonardo da Vinci, in the Citta Studi district, is called by the movement Italia in piazza, which organised the 17 October march against the cost of living and arms spending. Il Fatto Quotidiano described the Milan rally as supporting the Palestinian population and opposing war, while La Stampa reported that a Palestinian association in Italy would take part with its own contingent. The Milan call, published on social media, reads in part:

“Wars, poverty, repression, few hopes, no future, money spent on weapons are not problems to brush aside.”

In Parma, a march at 15:00 opposes remigration in response to a rally by the far-right groups CasaPound, Rete dei Patrioti and Veneto Fronte Skinheads, while unions, associations and social centres line up against the far-right event. In Rome, environmental groups are mobilised for the third edition of the Climate Parade.

Turin camp and student march

In Turin, the movement Torino in Piazza called a rally at 15:00 in piazza Castello, where a permanent presidio has been in place since 7 November at the foot of the monument to the Duke of Aosta. A student march leaving from Palazzo Nuovo, which students occupied in the preceding days, will join the rally there. The route notified to the Turin police headquarters (Questura) runs along via Po and via Rossini, turns into corso San Maurizio and corso Regina Margherita toward Porta Palazzo, crosses the Dora bridge and follows corso Palermo, via Bologna and corso Novara to the area near the Monumentale cemetery. The movement announced the rally at the end of the previous Saturday demonstration in piazza Crispi.

Organisers and the limits of the reporting

Organisers in Turin said on social media that they will keep marching every Saturday until they receive answers. They wrote that others were trying to divert attention from their demands, occupations and protests.

“The bomb alert in schools has spread panic, yet dissent persists. We remain focused on our demands.”

Counts differ by outlet. Tgcom24 reported more than 50 searches, Il Fatto Quotidiano said at least 50 people had been checked, and La Stampa and Fanpage both put the operation at more than 50 searches, with Fanpage describing searches in more than 13 cities. The people searched are described as suspects, and the reports published by early afternoon do not yet give outcomes of the searches.