The alleged mastermind of the youth protests in Italy arrested in Milan

The Italian cities experienced a shielded afternoon this Saturday. Hundreds of police and soldiers have monitored the streets and main squares for fear of a repeat of last weekend's riots and looting. In Milan, some 500 soldiers patrolled the city center, while in Rome there were officers deployed in practically all the main squares of the historic center. However, in this climate of maximum tension, the demonstrations have been much fewer than expected and, for the moment, the clashes that were feared have not occurred. According to the Government, one of the reasons has been the preventive action of the security forces, who have managed to identify the alleged person responsible for an Instagram account that had been calling for a new day of protests for days.

The police, who last week had been surprised for two consecutive days, this time have anticipated events. Those images of smashed shop windows and robbed shops in the heart of Milan had caused a deep shock in the city, unaccustomed to scenes of violence of this type. The vast majority of those arrested were minors, a fact that had increased the alarm even more.

To prevent a repetition of the riots, throughout the week researchers have closely monitored the chats and social profiles of groups, often virtually unknown, that were trying to organize new mobilizations.

The searches and controls began on Friday and, a few hours before the start of the demonstrations this Saturday, the police transferred Youssef Siher to the police station in Milan, a 30-year-old Italian freelance journalist of Moroccan origin, political scientist and student of North African politics, who is considered the alleged brain behind the “October 17 Movement”, which has become one of the main points of reference in a protest until then difficult to frame ideologically.

Siher, a pro-Palestinian activist and contributor to several national newspapers, has been interrogated and is being investigated for an alleged crime of incitement to commit a crime. The Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, has personally announced the operation through the X network, ensuring that the movement organized “violent actions” in Italy from Instagram, although without publicly providing evidence. “There will be no areas free from the action of justice and the State's response will be immediate against anyone who believes they can organize attacks and revolts thinking that they will be able to hide behind a balaclava or the anonymity of social networks,” he warned.

Precisely from that account the indication had come on Friday to cancel the previously announced gathering places. The organizers had chosen to keep the meeting points secret until the last moment, with the intention of making police deployment difficult. A strategy reminiscent of the organization of raves and illegal parties, in which the place of the event is announced just a few hours before, and which had put the intelligence services and the police on alert. Investigators then set out on the trail of those responsible for the account. Finally, the calls announced for this Saturday afternoon did not come to fruition.