Nine people were arrested, 87 were reported to authorities and 371 were taken to police offices and detained during demonstrations held across Italy on Saturday, according to Sky TG24. The broadcaster reported that 110 of those detained were minors and 69 were foreign nationals, and that 4,292 people were identified in total.
Crowds marched in several cities, with tensions and in some cases clashes between demonstrators and police reported in Turin, Rome, Bologna and Florence. In Milan, Sky TG24 reported, around 10,000 people took part in a procession.
Why it matters
The day had been anticipated as a test of public order after violence in central Milan the previous weekend. The October 17 Movement, which is linked to those earlier clashes, had said it would announce meeting points and final squares only at the last moment, according to Sky TG24, a tactic that left authorities preparing for gatherings that could form with little warning.
The political response was immediate. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said security had been guaranteed despite attempts by what she called violent elements, according to Sky TG24. Minister for Institutional Reforms Maria Elisabetta Casellati wrote on X that she always sides with the police, crediting their professionalism and courage with preventing a repeat of the previous week's destruction and thanking them for protecting citizens, shopkeepers and businesses.
A researcher is detained in Milan
Milan prosecutors ordered the detention of Youssef Siher, a 30-year-old Italian researcher of second-generation background, who is described as the leading figure of the October 17 Movement tied to last weekend's clashes in the Lombardy capital. Sky TG24 reported that he faces allegations of incitement to commit crimes with the aggravating circumstance of terrorist intent, along with Article 420 bis of the new decree law covering organised violence at public demonstrations. His wife is under investigation at liberty on the same allegations.
Also in Milan and across Lombardy, more than 150 urgent searches were carried out on Saturday, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. RaiNews reported that the man described as the movement's "mind" was stopped in Milan.
Padua: four arrests after a rush at a police cordon
In Padua, late on Saturday afternoon, a group of about 150 people from the anarchist milieu tried to break through the security cordon around the police headquarters in order to reach the railway station and halt train traffic. Four demonstrators were stopped by rapid-response units of the Digos and the flying squad and arrested in the act for resisting a public official during demonstrations, according to Sky TG24.
Those arrested were an 18-year-old from Camposampiero, a 19-year-old from Monselice, a 28-year-old woman from Vicenza and a 30-year-old from Padua, all linked to the anarchist area. The Padua prosecutor's office ordered pre-trial detention under house arrest for all four ahead of a fast-track hearing set for Monday, 26 October. Padua police chief Marco Odorisio immediately activated the anti-crime police to apply personal prevention measures against them.
An earlier account in the same reporting described about 40 people attempting to occupy the station and block the tracks, with police using water cannons to disperse them. The four were accused of resisting a public official in concert.
Bologna: four hours of marching, then a night of clashes
In Bologna, a demonstration that wound through the city centre for more than four hours was ending in Piazza Maggiore, having turned into an evening of violent clashes between demonstrators and police, Sky TG24 reported. Tensions that began around 18:00 in Piazza dei Martiri continued past 22:00, with several police charges along the route of the procession.
Tours: a bank branch set on fire
In the French city of Tours, a bank branch was set on fire, damaging apartments on the floors above, according to the prefecture. The incident happened on the margins of a gathering of 5,500 people held despite a ban on demonstrating or assembling. Residents of the flats above the bank were moved to other accommodation, the prefecture said in a statement.
The prefecture said several hundred at-risk individuals joined the gathering and, in that context, carried out urban violence. It said groups moved through the centre of Tours throughout the afternoon and into the evening, starting fires and provoking numerous clashes with police. Of the more than 200 national police officers from Indre-et-Loire and mobile units deployed, eight were injured, the prefecture said. Nine businesses were damaged, with thefts or attempted thefts in two cases.
Prefect Thomas Campeaux expressed regret that people took part in a demonstration banned because of the serious risk of public order disturbance, and the statement said the disorder had indeed occurred, facilitated by the presence of demonstrators.
What to watch
The four arrested in Padua are due before a fast-track hearing on Monday, 26 October, while the Milan investigation into the October 17 Movement continues with the searches already carried out across Lombardy.
