Chaos erupts in Milan as protesters loot major brand stores, 271 detained
Protesters loot stores in Milan (photo: Getty Images)
Italian police detained 271 young people during unrest in Milan on October 18. They smashed store windows and looted shops, Reuters reported.
Protests and looting in Milan
On the second day of protests in Italy over poor public services and rising prices, demonstrators looted stores and damaged property.
Police used tear gas and water cannons after several hundred hooded protesters set fire to trash bins and looted stores, including Decathlon and Arc'teryx outlets, as well as a Vodafone phone store in the city center.
Of those taken to police stations, 32 people were arrested, including 23 minors and 13 foreign nationals, police said on October 19. Another 28 people were reported to judicial authorities.
The unrest followed similar clashes on Saturday in northern cities including Milan, Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo, and Turin, where 28 protesters were arrested.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the violence and announced a government meeting on Monday to discuss ways to address the situation.
Protests in France
The unrest followed disturbances in neighboring France, where hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on October 17 in some of the country's most violent protests in recent years.
Earlier, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called for partial curfews following the unrest. Meanwhile, the Louvre in Paris remained closed due to the protests.
In addition, 2,000 people have already been detained during the unrest in France. A total of 110 marches took place across the country, drawing between 550,000 participants, according to authorities, and around 800,000, according to organizers.
French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation following the largest protests and riots in recent years.
