Cities under lockdown, nearly 5,000 identified, 371 detainees, including 110 minors, 9 people arrested, tensions and clashes in several squares . It was another tense day for public order throughout Italy, even if the violence and looting of last week were not repeated . This is also thanks to the work of the security apparatus, which has been working for days to intercept the surprise protests that were supposed to be launched at the last minute by the newly formed October 17 Movement, the promoter of the latest mobilizations that resulted in riots.

"The right to demonstrate must always be guaranteed," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on social media this evening, thanking Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and law enforcement, "as must the right of citizens to live in their cities in safety. The measures approved in recent days by the Council of Ministers are also moving in this direction: to give the state more effective tools to prevent violence and prevent criminals and troublemakers from destroying entire cities. Because safety must be guaranteed for everyone. For those who want to demonstrate peacefully, for those who work, and for those who want to live their city without fear. Without leaving room for those who only seek confrontation and violence."

The police forces "managed to isolate and contain the fringes of violent groups, with balance and competence," commented Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi at the end of a difficult day, expressing his "applause" to the police forces also for identifying the initiator of the October 17 Movement, and reiterating that "in Italy there can be no room for those who delude themselves into thinking they can act with impunity and in safe havens."

No surprise last-minute action, therefore, but tensions were high in several squares, with objects thrown at law enforcement, water cannons deployed, tear gas fired, and charges. In Rome, clashes erupted just a few dozen meters from the Quirinale after bottles were thrown at armored vehicles. Shortly before , some protesters staged a raid by entering the Colosseum . Charges and a water cannon were also deployed in Bologna, where a young man was injured and taken away by ambulance. The protests in the Emilian capital were split into two fronts, with barricades, trash cans set on fire, and a cigarette vending machine destroyed in the historic center .

Tensions were also high in Turin and Milan, where Lince vehicles and paratroopers were deployed to protect the Piazza del Duomo, where several thousand protesters, mostly university students, clashed with the police . In Florence , too, when the march headed toward the luxury streets, bottles were thrown at police and relief charges were carried out . The marches were calmer in Naples, Padua, and Bari, other cities where trouble was feared.

Overall, tensions were contained, thanks also to the prevention efforts carried out in the hours leading up to the demonstrations: several hundred young people were identified during checks, and dozens were detained, including some minors. Many were found in possession of balaclavas, spray cans, masks, and gloves.

(Unioneonline)

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