Italian authorities brace for surprise protests with heightened security measures

Ahead of a series of unscheduled protests, Italy's public security department is monitoring group movements from early morning and will use all governmental tools to maintain order. The interior minister announced that a new security decree, already published in the official gazette, is fully operative, permitting preventive detentions of anyone deemed a threat. A coordinated Digos operation swept eighteen cities, searching homes of roughly one hundred young people—half of them underage—and confiscating soft weapons, knives, explosives, and digital equipment used to organize the rallies.

Authorities have bolstered the presence of magistrates to approve arrests quickly. Additional forces, including the 15 mobile units, the Strade Sicure contingent in Milano, and thousands of local police officers, are deployed in cities like Torino, Bologna, Bari, Firenze, Genova, Como, Padova and Verona. Surveillance will extend from historic centers to shopping districts, train stations and metro lines, supported by drones and cyber-security experts. Officials also warned of possible counter-protests by ultra-football fans ready to defend streets and squares.