Tommaso Marcon is worried. Last Saturday a demonstration in Milan escalated: shop windows were smashed, shops were looted and garbage cans were set on fire. The pictures went around the world.
Marcon belongs to the Osa student organization, which had called for a “No Meloni Day” a week earlier. In numerous Italian cities, students took to the streets. Among other things, they called for more investment in the education system and better future prospects.
But after the riots there is hardly any talk of this anymore, criticizes Marcon: "In the media and on television they only talk about what happened in Milan. Not about the fact that last week thousands of schoolchildren and students took to the streets and said: We can't do it anymore." Instead, it's mainly about "the broken Louis Vuitton shop window in Milan and the burning garbage can."
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni strongly condemns the violence. "No political idea, no social emergency and no opposition to the government can justify vandalizing a store to steal goods," she said. Vandalizing and stealing is not protest, but crime. And the state's response must be decisive.
A few days later, her government passed a new security decree. Anyone who takes part in violent groups will have to expect prison sentences of several years in the future - a new criminal offense. Preventive arrests and arrests based on video recordings should also be expanded.
Tougher action should also be taken against underage perpetrators; their parents can be fined. In addition, 500 more soldiers are to be sent to Milan.
The opposition and student representatives criticize that this primarily talks about security and punishments - and less about the causes of the protests. "The reason for the protests is that the families don't even come until the end of the month, but only until the third week," says Marcon. It is not a public order problem, but a "social and political problem".
According to current findings, there is little to suggest that a unified, organized political bloc was behind the riots. There is also no reliable evidence that violence is being controlled from abroad.
What is particularly striking is the young age of many of those arrested. According to police information, a large proportion of the 271 people taken into custody by the police were minors. Some are only twelve, and the youngest person identified so far was only eleven years old. According to initial evaluations, according to media reports, these were Italian young people with no migration history as well as second-generation Italians from the Milan suburbs and the surrounding area.
A common organization or ideology is not yet recognizable. Rather, young people are said to have arranged to meet at short notice via social networks. The security authorities are therefore faced with a problem: unlike organized political groups, such spontaneous mobilizations are difficult to detect in advance.
A new account has now appeared on social networks under the name “Movimento 17 ottobre”. He calls for permanent mobilization and announces further demonstrations for several Italian cities - including Milan, Turin, Bologna, Rome and Florence. According to the initiators, the protests will continue until the government is overthrown.
It is still unclear who exactly is behind the network. Above all, there is currently no evidence that the initiators of the movement are also behind last weekend's riots. In the associated chat groups, participants sometimes expressly distance themselves from violence and looting.
Student representative Tommaso Marcon also doesn't want to be taken over by the violence. He wants to take to the streets again on October 30th. Peaceful, as he emphasizes, but with the same demands: against high living costs and for better future prospects for his generation.
