Milan cost-of-living march ends in clashes and detentions
A cost-of-living demonstration in Milan descended into clashes around Piazza Duomo after objects were thrown at police. Officers used tear gas and water cannon; shopfronts, transport facilities and police vehicles were damaged. A preliminary tally recorded injuries among demonstrators and officers and more than fifty detentions, while Mayor Giuseppe Sala criticised the scale of the damage.
Geopolitics··Midday
The march is stopped before clashes spread to Piazza Duomo
At least five thousand people joined a cost-of-living demonstration in Milan on Saturday, protesting high fuel prices, low wages and conditions in public healthcare and schools. The march was organized by Italia in piazza, the group behind the demonstration. Police and carabinieri, Italy’s military police, stopped the front of the procession in Via Broletto. Stones, bottles, smoke bombs and explosive devices were thrown, and disorder spread into Piazza Duomo, the square outside Milan’s cathedral, and surrounding streets.[1], [2]
Some groups overturned bins and barriers to build makeshift barricades. Transport shelters, historic-building windows and police vehicles were damaged. Businesses pulled down their shutters while tourists and families tried to leave. Some people sheltered in the underground station; its main entrances facing the square were closed while side entrances initially remained open.[1]
Officers and demonstrators are injured, dozens detained
ANSA reported a preliminary tally of at least four injured police officers and twenty injured demonstrators in Milan. More than fifty young people were detained, around half of them minors. The injury and detention totals were still being assessed. Ambulance crews treated people around the square. Angelo De Simone, who heads the city’s Garibaldi-Venezia police station, suffered a head injury after being hit by a paving stone.[1], [2]
According to police, young people arrived in small, self-organized groups from outlying neighbourhoods, the metropolitan area and other provinces. Officers initially withdrew to wait for reinforcements. Around twenty police vans and mobile-unit vehicles then surrounded Piazza Duomo. Some peaceful marchers argued with people using violence, while clashes also affected Piazza Mercanti and the Galleria area.[1], [2]
Mayor Sala questions the police response
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said the damage was very extensive and expressed deep concern in comments to RTL. He said his impression was that the seriousness of the situation had been underestimated and that police headquarters had not had enough officers available. Those assessments were the mayor’s views. Sala also urged a distinction between peaceful demonstrators and people committing violence. The final value of damage, along with the full accounting of injuries, arrests and complaints, remained unfinished.[2]
