Mantovano links youth unrest to drugs as Milan and Turin protests divide Italy

Milan's weekend without the expected clashes

The Saturday 24 October demonstration in Milan drew significant numbers and stayed peaceful, Mayor Giuseppe Sala told the city council, while acknowledging that disorders and criminal acts had taken place during the 17 and 18 October weekend. He argued that alongside the violence there is a protest voicing real economic and social hardship, which he said cannot be brushed aside as a public order issue. Sala put the point this way:

“Economic and social discomfort that cannot be ignored, nor dismissed as a public order problem.”

Sala said the mayors of the main Italian cities have asked to be received by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to set out the difficulties in their territories, and he is waiting to learn what follow-up the request will get. At a Bookcity event he thanked the shopkeepers who kept their doors open, noting that almost all shops stayed open with a few closures on Saturday. He said Milan owes much to its commerce and that in difficult moments the city must stay united and calm.

Government response and the drug remarks

Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, speaking in a streamed interview at the Festival delle Regioni in Florence, said many of the young people behind the 17 and 18 October disorders had taken drugs before the devastation and looting. He said he did not want to generalise, but that a share of them had consumed substances before taking part in the violence. He summed up his argument this way:

“Unfortunately, taking substances amounts to cutting the brakes on behaviour.”

The remarks drew an immediate response from Riccardo Ricciardi, the M5S group leader in the Chamber of Deputies, who called them shameful and said they aim to delegitimise every social protest. Ricciardi accused the government of portraying young people as idle and now as drug users, while ignoring problems such as housing and wages. He said the words were directed at millions of young people across the country.

“The words of Undersecretary Mantovano towards millions of young women and men in our country are shameful.”

The decree and the enforcement count

A report from the Fratelli d'Italia parliamentary study office credits the government with preventing devastation on 24 October. It describes 17 October in Milan, when a cost of living protest with about 5,000 participants turned into fires and looting, with damage estimated by Confcommercio at 700,000 euros over two days. Disorders also hit Turin, Bologna and Bergamo, with dozens of officers injured and numerous arrests. The Council of Ministers approved a decree-law on 20 October, in force from 23 October, creating a crime of organised violence at public demonstrations. Participants in groups of at least five using dangerous objects face two to five years in prison, while organisers and instigators, including those acting through social media, face up to twelve years. The decree also extends custody of up to twelve hours to minors and sets fines of 500 to 2,000 euros for parents, depending on the case. The same report counts over 4,000 people identified, 98 reported and 12 arrested in six monitored cities.

Identified (over 4,000)4,000

Reported98

Arrested12

Identified (over 4,000)

4000

Reported

98

Arrested

12

Data from the article text

Turin: peaceful marches, a police clash and a university protest

An investigative dossier prepared in Turin counts 11 demonstrations since March, some with tens of thousands of participants, that passed without incidents. The list includes the Turin Pride, with 65,000 people, and a Street Parade run by autonomous student collectives. Sources cited in the dossier say police conduct is not what creates confrontations. Giorgio Rossetto, 64, a veteran figure of the Italian autonomist movement, was questioned at the Askatasuna maxi trial in the Turin Court of Appeal, where he is among defendants charged with criminal association. He described the police approach as purely muscular, claimed about 10,000 people were in piazza Castello on 24 October, and rejected being a leader of Askatasuna, calling such claims hoaxes. The Silf union said two finanzieri serving in Aosta were injured during Saturday's Turin demonstration, citing firecrackers, stones, bottles and sticks thrown at officers. Outside the opening ceremony of the university's academic year, a few dozen students protested against ambassador Maurizio Massari, Italy's former UN representative, over his stance on Francesca Albanese.