Italian police raid homes of 100 suspected Milan rioters as authorities brace for further unrest

Following the chaotic weekend in Milan, where youths smashed shop windows, looted stores and clashed with police, the DIGOS special-operations division of the Italian state police carried out coordinated raids in more than a dozen cities, searching the residences of roughly 100 individuals, 51 of whom are minors. The rioting, which retail group Confcommercio estimates caused about one billion euros in damage, also resulted in 14 police injuries and over 270 detentions, 80 % of them underage, with the youngest participant said to be 11.

Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government responded by stationing 500 paratroopers in Milan and passing a new security decree that broadens preventive detention powers to include minors and creates a felony for violent participation in demonstrations, punishable by fines up to 20,000 euros and up to five years in prison. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio announced plans to expand juvenile detention facilities. In Bari, authorities launched a separate operation targeting a group of youths suspected of planning copy-cat looting, coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate and the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office.