Barricades burning before the Gothic facade of the Duomo, clouds of tear gas drifting across the square and masked youths hurling stones at police: that was the scene in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo on Saturday evening as the protest wave spread from France to Italy.
The “Italia in piazza” march against the cost of living and wars had begun peacefully with more than 5,000 participants. When unauthorized groups joined in, police stopped the march near Via Broletto and split it in two.
In another clip shot during the day, Piazza del Duomo turns into a scene of cat-and-mouse clashes, with young people in front of the cathedral’s façade throwing objects amid the chaos.
Fires and barricades
Protesters built barricades from bar tables in front of the cathedral and set them alight, and also torched a construction site. Groups of young people, mostly in black and without political symbols, threw stones, fireworks and barriers at police.
Police moved on the crowds with water cannon and tear gas in Piazza del Duomo, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Piazza San Babila and Via Mazzini, and the Duomo metro station was closed. In nearby streets, groups carrying Italian flags and flares faced off with police cordons.
Luxury arcade targeted
Police intervened after about 100 young people caused disorder in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the historic arcade home to some of the city’s most exclusive shops, and stores pulled down their shutters. A Foot Locker store was looted, the Nike store and La Rinascente were damaged, and a Carabinieri car was wrecked and looted.
As night fell, the square was littered with burning barricades, overturned barriers and scattered stones.
The toll
About 50 demonstrators, many of them minors, were detained, according to the LaPresse news agency. The police union Coisp said two officers were injured and at least 40 protesters detained; several demonstrators and a female photographer were also hurt.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: “Demonstrating is a right. Setting our cities ablaze is not.” Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala called the reasons for the protests “understandable.”
Bologna, Turin and Europe
The clashes spread to Bologna, where protesters threw stones near the train station and police responded with water cannon and tear gas. In Turin, police guarding Porta Nuova station were targeted with stones and bottles.
The events in Italy took place on the same day as mass protests against the cost of living in France that saw violence and looting. Student protests continue in Albania, and Italian students had thrown flares at the Education Ministry in Rome earlier in the week.
