It was the long-awaited 'No Meloni Day', proclaimed by students to protest against schools that are falling apart, oppose funds for the war industry, shout their hostility to the decree on the cap on immigrants at school and express solidarity with their French colleagues. "We want more classrooms and fewer bombs" thousands of kids shouted in dozens of cities.
Processions of very young people, over 400 thousand according to the organizers, took to the streets from Turin to Padua, from Bologna to Rome, Naples and Cagliari. There was no shortage of moments of tension with the police, especially in Turin and Rome, where the police unions speak of around ten officers injured. And Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attacks opposition leaders "who are unable to say a word of condemnation about the protests". Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi underlines how the difficult day was managed by the police forces "with firmness combined with professionalism and balance, even in the face of unmotivated aggression and violence".
In the capital the kids started from the Esquiline and, leaving the Colosseum behind, reached the Ministry of Education, in Viale Trastevere, after burning Israeli and American flags along the way. Once they arrived at the ministry they threw firecrackers and tear gas at the building, guarded by men in uniform, provoking the reaction of the minister Giuseppe Valditara: "this is not the democratic expression of dissent, nor defense of the school, but aggression against the institutions and political hooliganism", he said.
In Turin the demonstration also saw some teachers at the forefront who lined up at the head of the procession, arm in arm behind the "Turin Assembly" banner and who in moments of tension stood between their students and the police, forming a cordon. Having arrived in the central Piazza Castello, in fact, a few hundred demonstrators broke away from the rest of the kids, covered their faces and threw stones and torches towards the police, who responded with lightening charges. Three minors were then arrested red-handed for aggravated resistance to a public official while over 50 protesters were identified. The three arrested were also reported for carrying offensive objects: two had pepper spray and one had stones.
In Milan, shouting "Marshal Tito taught us, killing a fascist is not a crime", a group of very young people placed two silhouettes of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Education Minister Valditara upside down near rubbish bins and threw eggs at them. Silhouettes of Meloni and Valditara also appeared in the Genoa procession, where a cardboard tank was burned in front of the Confindustria headquarters.
In Bologna the procession marched through the avenues, blocking traffic in some places and then arrived at the station where it was stopped by the police in riot gear. The students lit smoke bombs and threw bottles and there was a moment of contact when they were pushed back by officers with shields. The incidents of violence were stigmatized by the government.
"I'm always happy - explains Prime Minister Meloni - when there is mobilization. Violence is a different thing, it's paper bombs, it's attacking the police. We must be clear and in agreement on this, I say this because I'm looking at the comments of the opposition leaders on the protests, who are unable to say a word of condemnation about the protests. I ask all Italian political forces to make an appeal for there to be demonstrations without violence". Dem secretary Elly Schlein replies: "it's not the fault of the students who protest if they can't pay the rent and the schools fall apart. The government should take care of giving concrete answers, that's what it should do. Meloni think about the Italians instead of taking it out on them". Along the same lines, Angelo Bonelli (Avs): "President Meloni, we always and unambiguously condemn all forms of violence. But you should apologize to the students and teachers".
Saturday 17 October new mobilization that converges with that of the CGIL. "With 'Generazione Fuoriclasse' we want to build a permanent mobilization, capable of going beyond the single day of strike and giving continuity to the demands coming from the schools. After France and Spain it's our turn", says Angela Verdecchia, coordinator of the Student Network, who with the collectives Osa and Cambiare Route, the Student Union and other acronyms were among the protagonists of the day.
