Meloni assigns 500 troops to Milan as 220 minors remain detained

Italy deployed 500 soldiers to Milan on Friday to secure the city ahead of new protests scheduled for Saturday. The military deployment follows a week of clashes and looting that saw 271 people detained across the country. Of that total, 220 were under the age of 18.

The demonstrations have been organized by the October 17 Movement, a coalition of student federations, grassroots unions, and antiwar groups. The organization announced the new round of protests online, targeting Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government and the rising cost of living. On its Telegram channel, the group stated that many participants intended to express dissent peacefully.

“We must be peaceful. If we give [the police] an excuse, they will charge against us,” one participant identified as E told the outlet on Thursday. Another member, identified as Q, argued that the distinction between violent and peaceful protesters was artificial, saying, “It’s just us.”

Organizers kept the specific locations of the demonstrations secret until the last minute. Three meeting points were expected to be announced on social media accounts on Saturday afternoon. Police said they had located and were questioning the administrator of the group's Instagram page. Corriere della Sera reported that the administrator is a 30-year-old freelance journalist and researcher of Italian and Moroccan descent. He is under investigation on suspicion of inciting crimes.

The surge in juvenile detainees has prompted a national debate on the role of social media in mobilizing young people. A public prosecutor described the recent events as “insurrectional acts” driven by misleading online information. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told Sky TG24 that the country must expand the capacity of its youth detention facilities to handle the mass arrests.

Lawyer Michele D'Agostino is defending two demonstrators, aged 21 and 15. He noted that the 15-year-old did not know the reasons behind the protest and had seen the call to action on TikTok. “He had just seen it on TikTok and decided to check it out with a friend,” D'Agostino said. He added that the teenager was not among the looters but did not grasp the seriousness of the situation.

Police conducted raids and searches in several cities on Friday, targeting suspects involved in the previous weekend's looting. Adnkronos reported that officers carried out a further 150 raids in the Lombardy region on Saturday morning. Separately, truck drivers in southern Italy set up roadblocks earlier this week to protest soaring fuel prices. The government responded on Thursday by granting tax breaks and creating a special fund for farmers and fishermen.