Italy's government will dispatch 500 army troops to defend Milan after a weekend of protests, looting and clashes, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini announced on Monday.
"From words to action: 500 more troops to defend Milan," Salvini, who leads the co-ruling League party, wrote on social media. The deployment is expected to be part of a package of security measures going before a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
"From words to action: 500 more troops to defend Milan."
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence and chaired a meeting with ministers and security chiefs on Monday to discuss the situation. "The government will respond firmly to these attacks on the state, including through measures aimed at curbing violence by minors," said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who like Salvini serves as a deputy prime minister. Italy's Corriere della Sera reported Meloni is also considering extending preventive detention for minors and cracking down on youth gangs, bringing forward provisions from a security bill already before parliament.
The unrest began on Saturday as an initially peaceful demonstration over poor public services and rising costs. It turned when several hundred hooded protesters, many believed to be minors, set bins ablaze and looted shops across the city centre. Television footage showed ransacked stores including the sports retailers Decathlon and Arc'teryx and a Vodafone shop. On Sunday, police took 271 young people into custody in Milan, formally arrested 32 of them — including 23 minors — and reported 14 officers injured in the clashes, as disturbances also hit Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo and Turin.
By Monday, Milan's famous Via Montenapoleone luxury district — home to Chanel, Tiffany and Dior — had emptied its windows and boarded up, with stores closing early as police patrolled and the city braced for another night. Roughly 240 people have been injured across the days of unrest. Meloni, whose government faces a national election next year, now has soldiers heading into Italy's financial capital to restore order.
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