Hundreds of Italian soldiers deployed as thousands protest in Milan

Milan, Italy – Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Italy to demonstrate against Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government and the rising cost of living, a week after clashes with police and looting during demonstrations in Milan.

Protests were called in eight Italian cities on Saturday, including the fashion and finance capital, Milan, where the government deployed hundreds of soldiers.

As soldiers spread out and luxury boutiques were boarded up, two demonstrations marched through the streets of the northern city.

Around 50 people gathered spontaneously in Cordusio Square, heading towards the central Castle square and chanting, “We are all antifascists”.

Small groups joined the main demonstration along the way, swelling its ranks. Many of the protesters were young people.

At its peak, the protest drew around 10,000 people.

“I believe that the main obstacle to our future is our state,” Riccardo, a 17-year-old student from Milan who did not give his last name, told Al Jazeera.

“We are here because of the rising prices and because I believe that our government has no respect for its citizens,” another 17-year-old student from the province of Pavia added, without giving his name.

“There are four people in my family. My mother works in a factory, but my father is about to lose his job. It’s hard to make ends meet on just one salary,” he said.

For almost four hours, the protesters walked around the city centre, heading southeast while being watched by riot police. They finally stopped at 7:30pm local time (17:30GMT) in front of Milan Polytechnic University.

There were no security incidents in Milan, but protesters clashed with police in other cities, including Turin and Rome, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported.

Police said nine people were arrested in protests across Italy on Saturday, with a total of 371 briefly detained.

‘We distrust this government’

Saturday’s demonstrations followed an announcement online of a new round of protests by a newly formed group calling itself the ‘October 17 Movement’. It has been the main driver of demonstrations alongside student federations, grassroots trade unions and antiwar coalitions.

“Those who deny our future are truly violent,” the group said on Instagram. “We distrust this government because we see it as authoritarian.”

In response to last weekend’s looting, the government announced a series of new security measures, including the deployment of 500 soldiers to Milan on Saturday.

On Friday, police carried out raids and searches in several cities for people suspected of taking part in looting and rioting in last weekend’s protests, reported the Italian news agency Adnkronos. Another 150 raids were carried out on Saturday morning in the northern region of Lombardy.

On its Telegram channel, the October 17 Movement said many of those planning to demonstrate wanted to voice their dissent peacefully.

“We must be peaceful. If we give [the police] an excuse, they will charge against us,” a participant identified as E said on Thursday.

Others have stressed that there is no distinction between those who engage in violence and peaceful protesters. “It’s just us,” said a member identified as Q.

Protesters decided to keep the location of the demonstration secret until the last minute, with three meeting points announced on their social media accounts on Saturday afternoon.

Police confirmed to Al Jazeera that they had located and were questioning the administrator of the group’s Instagram page. According to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, he is a 30-year-old Italian-Moroccan freelance journalist and researcher. He is currently under investigation on suspicion of “inciting crimes”.

Most of the arrested protesters were under 18.

Some joined the protests last weekend after being unexpectedly added to a Telegram group, Corriere della Sera reported.

“They said that they would raise chaos and we could take a lot of goods,” one of them said.

Lawyer Michele D’Agostino is defending two demonstrators, aged 21 and 15.

“[The youngest one] didn’t even know the reasons behind the protest; he had just seen it on TikTok and decided to check it out with a friend,” D’Agostino told Al Jazeera.

“He was not among the looters, but he did not realise the seriousness of what was happening,” he said.

The public prosecutor has blamed social media for misleading young people into taking part in what he described as “insurrectional acts”.

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told Sky TG24 that there was a need to “expand the capacity of our youth detention facilities” in response to the mass arrests of under-18s.

“Looting is wrong, but I cannot understand why it makes more noise than what happens in southern Italy, where people are facing fuel shortages,” said a 17-year-old student, whose family is originally from Senegal and who joined the demonstration in Milan.

Earlier this week, truck drivers set up roadblocks in several regions of southern Italy to protest against soaring fuel prices, leaving many markets without supplies for days. On Thursday, the government sought to offer them some relief by granting tax breaks and establishing a special fund for farmers and fishermen.