Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has approved new security measures targeting violent demonstrations, juvenile offenders and property destruction after authorities detained or arrested 330 people, approximately half of whom she identified as having foreign backgrounds.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has announced stricter criminal penalties, expanded juvenile detention powers and the deployment of 500 additional soldiers to Milan following violent demonstrations that left businesses damaged, police officers injured and hundreds of people in custody.
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The measures, approved by Italy’s Council of Ministers on Tuesday, Oct. 20, introduce a criminal offense for violent participation in public demonstrations, carrying prison sentences of up to five years and fines reaching €20,000. Parents could also become financially responsible for damage caused by their minor children, while authorities would receive expanded powers to detain juvenile suspects.
Meloni said police had arrested or detained 330 people during the disturbances, with approximately half classified as being of foreign origin, including individuals born abroad and Italian-born children of foreign families. The figures were presented by the prime minister as part of her explanation of the government’s response, rather than as evidence that immigration caused the demonstrations.
The crackdown follows unrest in Milan and other northern Italian cities, where initially peaceful demonstrations over living costs, wages, housing expenses and public services escalated into confrontations with police, looting and property destruction. Similar disturbances have occurred in France, Belgium and Albania as European governments face growing public dissatisfaction over economic conditions.
In an official statement issued by the Italian government, Meloni described the destruction and explained the new measures intended to prevent additional violence.
“We have all seen the footage of the violence that swept through Milan and other Italian cities over the weekend, with shops being ransacked, shop windows smashed and police officers attacked. No one can possibly downplay or justify such unacceptable scenes. This is why the Council of Ministers has today approved a decree introducing new measures to prevent and combat this violence. These are in addition to the other measures that have been approved over the last months, starting with biometric recognition – also using artificial intelligence – in order to put a name to those hiding behind a hoodie. I’ll explain the new provisions introduced by today’s measures in the simplest possible terms.”
The most immediate change creates a specific criminal offense addressing individuals who participate in violence during organized demonstrations.
Under the decree, people acting in groups of at least five who throw dangerous objects or engage in conduct threatening public safety could face imprisonment and substantial financial penalties. Harsher punishments would apply in circumstances involving concealed identities, injuries or coordinated destruction.
“First, we have established a new crime: violent participation in a protest. In other words, if you join a group of five or more people during a march or a protest and you start throwing stones, firecrackers, sticks – jeopardising everyone’s safety – then you risk up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to EUR 20,000. If your face was covered or you injured someone, then those sentences are increased, and there are also harsher penalties for those who commit acts of destruction as part of a group.”
Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio also announced a separate provision targeting individuals who organize violent groups, including through digital platforms. According to Italian news agency ANSA, that offense can carry prison sentences ranging from four to 12 years.
The provisions distinguish organized violent conduct from participation in lawful demonstrations, although civil liberties advocates have raised questions about the scope of the new enforcement powers.
Meloni’s government has also approved measures intended to make individuals financially accountable for vandalism.
Under the decree, authorities can pursue payment for damage to public property, while private business owners can obtain enforceable compensation orders against those responsible. When the offender is a minor, parents may be required to cover the costs.
“Second, we are applying a simple principle: if you break something, you pay, and if you break something and you’re under 18, then your parents pay. How does this work? If the damage has been caused to public property, such as a bus shelter, a traffic light or a police or army vehicle, then the Prefecture will send a payment order to your house. If the damage has been caused to private property, such as a shop window, a store or someone’s car, then the owner can go to court and obtain an immediately enforceable payment order.”
Meloni emphasized that affected families would retain the ability to challenge payment orders, although compensation could be pursued before those challenges were resolved.
“It will of course be possible to appeal but, in the meantime, the parents of that young person who had fun smashing everything will have to pay. Those who have suffered the damage may seek compensation from everything – from that family’s assets and even any money the State may owe them.”
The government introduced the financial provisions amid reports of extensive damage to Milan’s commercial districts.
Luxury retailers closed stores or removed merchandise as a precaution after groups of young people smashed windows and entered businesses during the disturbances.
According to Confcommercio, Italy’s national business association, damage in Milan alone reached approximately €1 million. Authorities also reported significant losses involving public property and attacks against police vehicles.
The participation of teenagers and younger children became another focus of the government’s response.
Meloni announced changes to the legal treatment of suspects between 14 and 18, including a presumption that they possess the capacity to understand their actions unless evidence establishes otherwise.
The decree also extends preventive detention provisions to minors, expanding the circumstances in which police may temporarily hold young suspects.
“Third: juveniles. At the moment, in the case of a young person aged between 14 and 18, the State has to prove each time that they were capable of understanding what they were doing. We have already approved legislation to overturn this principle, namely with the presumption that they were capable of understanding what they were doing, unless proven otherwise. That piece of legislation is currently before Parliament, but today’s decree makes it immediately effective. Moreover, the preventive detention measure, which until now was only applicable to adults, can now be applied to minors too.”
According to Reuters, the new preventive detention authority may allow police to hold certain minors for up to 12 hours where the required legal conditions are met, including evidence that they present a danger.
The changes have generated concerns among some legal and civil rights groups about the balance between public safety and protections afforded to juvenile suspects.
Meloni’s administration has maintained that the measures are necessary because many of the people involved in the violence were under 18.
The prime minister also announced an increased military presence in Milan through the end of December.
The additional troops will support existing public security operations alongside police and Carabinieri officers. The government will also provide additional resources for juvenile courts and detention facilities.
“Fourth: 500 additional soldiers will be arriving in Milan, who will work alongside the police and Carabinieri officers until the end of the year. We are also providing the youth justice system with more judges and prosecutors as well as more places in detention centres, so that the certainty of punishment also applies to 16-year-olds.”
Although ministers initially discussed granting additional policing authority to the soldiers, the cabinet did not approve those expanded powers.
Italian media reported that President Sergio Mattarella raised objections to extending police powers to military personnel, while police unions also questioned whether soldiers should perform functions ordinarily reserved for trained law enforcement officers.
The deployment will instead reinforce the existing Safe Streets security operation.
The government’s decisions follow demonstrations that began in early October and escalated over the weekend of Oct. 17 and 18.
Protests over school conditions, teacher shortages and economic grievances initially attracted students and other demonstrators. The movement subsequently expanded as dissatisfaction with living costs and public services brought additional participants into city centers.
In Milan, groups separated from larger demonstrations and attacked commercial establishments, threw objects at police and damaged public infrastructure.
Reuters reported that police detained 271 people in Milan on Sunday, including minors and foreign nationals, while additional arrests and detentions followed across affected areas.
Meloni later cited the broader figure of 330 people arrested or detained and said nearly 200 officers had been injured during the disturbances.
The prime minister described what she viewed as a change in the composition and organization of violent groups, particularly the use of online communications to coordinate young participants.
“These are the main measures, because we will do everything we can to prevent what we have seen over the last few days from becoming the norm. Almost 200 officers have been injured and, according to Confcommercio, the damage in Milan alone amounts to approximately EUR 1 million. Who was out on those streets and squares? There were the usual fringe agitators – the ones who look for clashes at every protest march – but, alongside them, there was something new this time. Hundreds of very young people, very many of them under the age of 18, arrived in small groups after being called together by a video on social media; kids came out onto the streets to smash things and steal while filming themselves doing it. We must seriously address this phenomenon, also in order to prevent those images from becoming an example to be copied.”
Her comments reflected concerns among Italian officials that online coordination and the participation of younger offenders could complicate conventional crowd-control operations.
The government has increasingly explored surveillance technologies, including biometric identification and artificial intelligence, as tools for investigating criminal activity during demonstrations.
Those proposals have also prompted debate about privacy, proportionality and the limits of surveillance in public spaces.
Meloni addressed the distinction between legitimate protest and criminal conduct in her statement, saying political disagreements or economic hardship did not justify attacks against workers and businesses.
“However, I also want to be clear: there is no political idea, social hardship or opposition to the Government that can justify a shop being destroyed to take its merchandise. Behind that shop window is a family who has invested a lifetime’s worth of sacrifices, there are workers who risk losing their jobs and there are citizens who have the right to enjoy their city without fear. There is nothing revolutionary about vandalism and theft.”
Her remarks also addressed the nationality and family backgrounds of individuals taken into custody.
“Vandalism and theft are not a protest; they are a crime. And the State must respond firmly. Public security forces have detained and arrested 330 people, half of whom are of foreign origin – either born abroad or born in Italy to foreign families. I expect the crimes that have been committed to be swiftly prosecuted and all available regulations to be strictly enforced, including those in the recent ‘security decrees’.”
The figures include both foreign-born individuals and people born in Italy to immigrant families, categories that do not necessarily correspond to legal immigration status or citizenship.
Authorities have not established that immigration was the principal cause of the unrest, which developed from broader protests involving economic conditions and public services.
The participation of people from immigrant backgrounds nevertheless became part of the political discussion surrounding the government’s response.
Meloni also highlighted reports that children substantially younger than the ordinary age of criminal responsibility had been identified during the disturbances.
“There is one fact in particular which, in my view, should make everyone stop and think: the youngest of the minors identified in Milan is reportedly just 11 years old. This is painful and frightening, and it concerns us all. We cannot allow some youngsters to grow up thinking that smashing a window is a way of getting respect, or that some views on social media are worth more than their future. We cannot accept anyone ending up justifying them for political convenience or perhaps for self-promotion. We understand the difficulties that many young people face, and we know what it means to be looking for a job, to have inadequate pay and to see no prospects for the future. We have been working on these problems since the very start of our term and will continue to do so; we work on them every day.”
The government has argued that stronger penalties and expanded juvenile justice resources are necessary to discourage young people from participating in organized violence.
Critics of tougher security measures have countered that criminal enforcement alone cannot resolve underlying problems involving employment, education and the cost of living.
Meloni acknowledged those concerns but rejected the argument that difficult economic circumstances could excuse property destruction.
“However, hardship cannot become an excuse for violence, first and foremost because violence only exacerbates hardship; it cannot cure it. Secondly, because when a shop window is shattered, it is not those in power who pay the price; it is the shopkeepers, the workers and the local area – precisely the ordinary people who some claim they want to defend.”
The prime minister separately identified demonstrations involving farmers, truck drivers, industrial workers and other groups as examples of political activity that the government considered legitimate when conducted peacefully.
She said her administration remained willing to negotiate with organizations representing those constituencies.
“I want to be equally clear in distinguishing between those who commit acts of violence and those who protest peacefully to ask for answers. I am thinking of the farmers, the truck drivers, the workers at the former Ilva steel plant and the many communities going through difficult times – the Government engages in dialogue with them and is working to find solutions. Just today, Minister Salvini met with representatives from the road haulage industry to address the sector’s difficulties and identify additional responses. The State that is saying no to violence is the same State that is listening to those who protest while respecting others. It is precisely on this distinction that I am also asking for clarity from all the political forces. Acts of violence must be condemned without ambiguity, without justifications and without distinctions based on who commits them.”
The statement followed criticism of certain political representatives who had publicized information about obtaining legal assistance after arrests connected to the Milan violence.
Meloni argued that elected officials should distinguish between defending legal rights and appearing to excuse criminal conduct.
“I think it is extremely serious that institutional representatives have gone so far as to publicise information on getting free legal assistance following the devastation in Milan. I consider any attempt at presenting looting and destruction as a legitimate way of raising social grievances to be unacceptable. Those with political responsibility should be the first to point out that no cause can authorise workers being targeted, public security officers being attacked or our cities being destroyed.”
Her remarks came as several European governments confronted similar disturbances.
In France, large demonstrations over living expenses and public services escalated into violence in Paris, Marseille and other cities. Belgium also experienced clashes involving police and demonstrators, while separate unrest in Albania prompted additional security concerns.
The incidents have generated disagreements among political leaders over whether the primary causes involve economic hardship, immigration, failures of integration or the activities of organized groups exploiting legitimate demonstrations.
In Italy, the government’s new decree focuses on criminal conduct during protests, juvenile accountability and protecting businesses from property destruction.
The measures are subject to Italy’s constitutional and legislative procedures. As an emergency decree, the legislation must be converted into law by Parliament within 60 days to remain in force.
Legal challenges and parliamentary scrutiny could also affect individual provisions, particularly those concerning minors and police authority.
The administration’s decision to expand detention powers and introduce new criminal penalties has therefore opened a debate about the boundaries between protecting public order and safeguarding the rights of demonstrators.
Meloni concluded her announcement by calling for cooperation across political parties and emphasizing that authorities would continue protecting peaceful demonstrations while prosecuting criminal offenses.
“This is why I am calling for everyone, regardless of their political views, to stand on the side of lawfulness, freedom and respect for the rules. We will continue to do our part to protect those who protest peacefully, those who work and those who simply want to live in safety.”
“Protesting is a right, tearing our cities apart is not. We have said so, and we will prove it through our actions.”
The prime minister’s remarks accompanying the security announcement outlined the government’s intention to pursue additional enforcement against violent groups while maintaining protections for lawful demonstrations.
The additional troops are expected to remain in Milan through the end of the year, while authorities implement the revised penalties and juvenile justice measures.
The government’s immediate priorities include preventing further attacks on commercial districts, identifying participants responsible for destruction and processing the hundreds of cases arising from the unrest.
As Italy prepares for additional demonstrations, the new security measures will test the government’s ability to address violence without restricting peaceful protest, while Parliament considers whether to make the emergency provisions permanent.
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