Italy’s government is set to meet on Monday to address threats to public order and consider new security measures, following violent clashes in the northern city of Turin that left more than 100 security officers injured.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the meeting on Sunday, after visiting two injured officers in hospital. She said discussions would focus on the consequences of the unrest and the possible adoption of a new security decree.
“We will do what is necessary to restore rules in this country,” Meloni said in a statement posted on the social media platform X.
Government Condemns Violence as Organized Crime
Meloni described the violence during Saturday’s demonstration as organized criminal activity rather than a protest, stressing the severity of the attacks on security forces.
“When you strike someone with a hammer, you know the consequences can be very, very serious. This is not a protest. These are not clashes. This is attempted murder,” she said.
According to Italian authorities, a total of 108 members of the security forces were injured, including 96 police officers, seven members of the Guardia di Finanza, and five Carabinieri, ANSA news agency reported.
Call for Stronger Enforcement of Existing Laws
The prime minister also urged the judiciary to apply existing laws more decisively, arguing that past failures to do so have weakened the state’s ability to deter violence.
“If we are unable to protect those who protect us, there is no rule of law,” Meloni added.
Details of the Unrest
The clashes erupted during protests against the closure of a left-wing cultural center in Turin. While the demonstration initially remained peaceful, groups of masked individuals reportedly broke away after nightfall and attempted to breach police lines in the Vanchiglia district.
Police said protesters threw bottles, stones, homemade incendiary devices and smoke bombs, set fire to trash containers and an armored police vehicle, and used street furniture and dismantled light poles as weapons.
Security forces responded with tear gas, heated water cannons, and crowd-control weapons during confrontations that lasted more than an hour.
