Paris: 855 detained after the 17 October protests
Police in Paris said 855 people were detained during protests on 17 October, a figure the prefecture described as a record number. Its bulletin, issued at 8:00 on 18 October, reported 13 police officers and gendarmes injured, plus two firefighters. The prefecture said the people responsible belonged to violent groups of between 500 and more than 1,000 people, and that the damage assessment was still under way. On 18 October the CRS 8 unit, a special police force for urban violence, was deployed for a second day, this time at Place de la République, where several hundred people clashed with officers and a clothing shop was looted. First deputy mayor Lamia El Aaraje, the mayor's right-hand, said police lacked the resources to stop looting that continued late into the night across many areas of the capital. She described the level of violence as without precedent, in her view.
Milan: looting, barricades and damage in the centre
About 5,000 people joined the afternoon demonstration on 17 October organised by the Movimento Italia in Piazza, according to the Questura. Police said at least 2,000 very young people threw objects and attacked officers from the Via Broletto stretch onward, building barricades and lighting fires. A Carabinieri car was struck with iron bars, and at a well-known shoe and sportswear store near San Babila a security employee was assaulted. Clashes wound down around 22:30, when 72 people were taken to police offices on Via Fatebenefratelli and 16 were arrested. Juvenile court sources, cited by Adnkronos, said 11 of those taken in were minors, and the young people involved are to answer for devastation, aggravated injury and resisting a public official.
On 18 October, groups of 10 to 20 people, mostly dressed in black and some with covered faces, gathered around Piazza Duomo and spread through the centre. Windows were broken on Via Torino, including those of Footlocker and the Champions store, and a Carrefour supermarket was stormed and looted, with bottles of alcohol carried out. Police used tear gas to push back crowds near Cordusio, where Levi's and Under Armour shops on Via Orefici were broken into. Police closed the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele with vehicles and riot officers, and by the time of the reports 50 people had been taken to the police station for identification. Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala told Sky TG24 that he was assessing the damage so that those affected could be compensated.
What I am trying to do is assess the damage to the city, because it is right that those who had damage are reimbursed.
- Movimento Italia in Piazza demonstration in Milan draws about 5,000 people
- Clashes in Milan wind down; 72 people taken to police offices, 16 arrested
- Paris prefecture reports 855 people detained after the 17 October protests
- Groups of young people loot a Carrefour and shops on Via Torino in Milan
Bologna and the damage bill
Marco Barbieri, secretary general of Confcommercio Milano, put the first estimate for the centre of Milan at over 500,000 euros, counting damage and takings lost after shops closed at 17:00. Confcommercio Bologna reported at least 500,000 euros in damage there, excluding lost income, with shops on Via Indipendenza and Via Matteotti and nearby streets closed from 15:00 on 17 October. Confcommercio put the combined damage in Milan and Bologna at about 1 million euros. In Bologna, the gathering was called by Carrelli vuoti, which brought together the collectives Cua, Crash and Plat in Piazza Minghetti against the cost of living. According to reports, many young people of foreign origin, mostly minors, joined through Telegram groups set up for the purpose, with the stated aim of copying events in France.
Questions over who called the protests
Nicola Fratoianni of Avs said he could not trace the origin of the group behind the Italia in piazza marches.
Yesterday there was a group calling the demonstrations, Italia in piazza, whose origin I cannot trace at all. We have to ask questions.
He said that condemning the violence alone would not be enough to understand what is happening, particularly among young people. ANSA reported that 197 people were identified and taken to police offices after clashes at marches organised in several cities by the same movement.