Weekend riots in Milan and northern cities saw groups of mostly young people smash windows, loot shops including Decathlon and Levi’s, and attack police. Nearly 200 officers were injured. Police stopped or arrested about 330 people, half of foreign origin according to Meloni, with the youngest identified at 11. In Milan alone, 271 were taken in on Sunday, 220 of them minors. Damage estimates hit roughly €1 million.
On October 20 Meloni’s cabinet approved a decree creating a new offense of violent group participation in a demonstration. Joining five or more people who endanger public safety brings up to five years and a €20,000 fine, higher if faces are covered or injuries occur. Parents become financially liable for damage by minors. Preventive detention extends to 14- to 17-year-olds. Five hundred extra troops go to Milan through year-end. Organizers face up to 12 years.
Meloni: “There is nothing revolutionary about devastating and stealing. Vandalism and theft are not protest, they are criminality.”
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