Clashes broke out in central Milan on Saturday, 17 October, shortly after the 'Italia in Piazza' march set off. Adnkronos reports that bottles and other objects were thrown at officers deployed in via Broletto, while firecrackers (bombe carta) and smoke flares were set off along the route. Il Sole 24 ORE describes a dense barrage of stones aimed at police in the same street, near the point where the march stalled at via San Tomaso. Officers in riot gear answered with a short light charge (carica di alleggerimento), and Tgcom24 says the stone-throwing came after the first clashes at the start of the procession. Il Giornale reports that several people were stopped by officers as the situation grew more heated.
After the charge, the procession broke in two, with one part stuck in via Broletto and the other reaching piazza Duomo. Adnkronos reports that the police cordon around via Broletto let people leave the street but not enter it. Groups of young people headed toward via Bossi, according to Il Sole 24 ORE, which also reports damage to Atm bus shelters and to the upper-floor windows of several buildings in the centre. The same paper describes a great deal of confusion among the young participants. The reports do not yet give figures for injuries or detentions, so the full scale of the disorder in Milan is not yet clear.
Tgcom24 says the protest was called through social media and messaging channels by groups of citizens, who describe it as apolitical and non-partisan. Marches took place in 13 cities, including Milan, Naples, Turin, Florence, Rome and Bologna. Tgcom24 reports several hundred people in Turin and Genoa. Il Sole 24 ORE puts the Milan march at more than 5,000 participants at the time it split. The stated grievances are the cost of living, low wages and the tax burden, according to Tgcom24.
Il Giornale adds the war and the government to the list of grievances behind the rallies. The same outlet links the Milan scenes to student protests in France, which it describes as having caused unrest in several cities for weeks. It says there is concern in Italy that the mobilisation could follow the same course, turning student demands into urban violence. Tgcom24 singles out Milan as the city where tension was highest across the 13 locations.
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Bottles, firecrackers and stones were thrown at police in central Milan on Saturday, 17 October, splitting the march in two and leaving part of it stuck in via Broletto. Rallies were held in 13 Italian cities over the cost of living and low wages.
AI text based on reports by Adnkronos, Tgcom24, il Giornale.it and other publishers. Published .