We don't even have time to count the damage when urban guerrilla warfare has returned to the center of Milan. Via social media the very young people met again around Piazza Duomo: generally black clothing, with sweatshirt and hood, was a sign of recognition. They again smashed windows and looted shops and supermarkets. In the evening the toll of those arrested rose to over 200, around 80% of whom were minors. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after what happened yesterday not only in Milan but in various Italian cities such as Turin and Bologna, where Confcommercio estimated damage at over half a million, called a summit on public order. And the mayor Giuseppe Sala, after having stigmatized the few officers who took to the streets on Saturday, had a vitriolic exchange with the Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi who called him radical chic. Sala was certainly right about one thing, the belief that it would happen again.
And it happened again, less than 24 hours after Saturday's guerrilla war. Already in the early afternoon, fifty children were taken to the police station to be identified before the violence resumed. This deterrent was not enough: in Via Torino other kids threw chairs, tables and barriers at the windows of Footlocker, which had its shutters down, Champions and a Carrefour which they entered and ransacked. Under Armor was also looted next to Cordusio and Levis, where the boys smashed the window with the handlebars of a scooter. And then Decathlon and the shops and clubs of Corso Garibaldi. In all cases they were quick raids, carried out before quickly escaping, alternating with moments of throwing objects to which the police responded with tear gas (484 were fired yesterday in Milan alone) and water cannons. The Gallery was armored and the Cathedral closed to tourists early. Among the boys stopped during the day by the police, several had already been identified yesterday. "They've taken a liking to it, they think they can lord it over and will come back again. They didn't understand that it went well for them."
Not at all. Before 7pm in Milan, 160 had already been taken to the police station, 80% of them minors. The toll of those arrested in the evening reached over 200. Throughout Italy, yesterday 197 people were identified and accompanied to the police offices: 28 people were arrested, of which 12 minors and 6 foreigners and 43 reported. But the feeling of having been caught unprepared is undeniable. "I don't have it against the police commissioner, and God forbid, with whom I work every single day - Sala said in the morning - but I have the impression that the moment is being underestimated and that the forces available in Milan at the police headquarters were not adequate".
Shortage "non-existent" according to the president of the Senate Ignazio La Russa who said he was "speechless". "The usual natural and instinctive reflex of a certain radical chic left that is unable to condemn the violent without some distinction, always preferring to look at the alleged responsibilities of the State and its representatives" commented Piantedosi. And while + Europa with Riccardo Magi asked that the head of the Interior Ministry report to the chamber, the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein opened the demonstration on high costs of living and wages proposed by Nicola Fratoianni and Angello Bonelli of Avs. "We have nothing to do with criminals. We have always condemned them - he underlined - but they cannot use violence to cover the voice of thousands of people who are peacefully protesting throughout Italy because they can no longer live". "The government - added the leader of the 5 Star Movement Giuseppe Conte - absolutely cannot allow itself in the face of protests, even some episodes of violence which must be firmly condemned, to instead deny what is the root, the discomfort, the impossibility for adults, young people and families, businesses, to make ends meet or to have their essential rights guaranteed".
Melons: we evaluate other tools for those who exploit the marches to sow chaos
"Tomorrow I have called a meeting on public order at Palazzo Chigi, to take stock of the situation and evaluate further tools against those who exploit legitimate demonstrations to sow violence and chaos. Defending citizens, those who live honestly and those who guarantee everyone's safety comes before any indulgence towards the violent". Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote it on social media.
