150 Raids Sweep Lombardy Ahead of Saturday Protests Across Eight Cities

Protests were called for eight Italian cities on Saturday against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government and the rising cost of living, one week after a Milan demonstration turned to clashes and looting. The rallies follow a week in which prosecutors opened an inquiry into a journalist who administers a protest group's social media accounts. Police executed 150 raids on Saturday morning across the northern region of Lombardy, the news agency Adnkronos reported, following searches Friday in several cities targeting people suspected of looting and rioting. The government has also deployed 500 soldiers to Milan.

The October 17 Movement announced the new round of demonstrations online. The group works alongside student federations, grassroots trade unions and antiwar coalitions. Organizers said they would announce three meeting points through social media on Saturday afternoon. On its Telegram channel, the group said many participants intend to march peacefully. A participant identified as E said Thursday: "We must be peaceful. If we give [the police] an excuse, they will charge against us."

Police located and questioned the administrator of the group's Instagram page, they told Al Jazeera. Corriere della Sera identified him as a 30-year-old Italian-Moroccan freelance journalist and researcher who is under investigation on suspicion of "inciting crimes". The public prosecutor blamed social media for drawing young people into acts he described as "insurrectional acts".

Of the 271 people detained after Sunday's protest in Milan, 220 were under 18. Corriere della Sera reported that some minors joined after being added to a Telegram group without warning. One said: "They said that they would raise chaos and we could take a lot of goods." Lawyer Michele D'Agostino is representing two defendants, ages 21 and 15. He said the younger 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." Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told Sky TG24 that the country needed to "expand the capacity of our youth detention facilities" in response to the arrests.

Truck drivers set up roadblocks in southern Italian regions earlier this week over fuel prices, cutting supply to markets for days. On Thursday, the government announced tax breaks and a special fund for farmers and fishermen.