Italy stations troops in Milan

A week after clashes and looting in Milan, the Italian government is preparing for a new round of nationwide protests. Five hundred soldiers have been deployed to the city's streets to secure key areas.

The demonstrations are scheduled for Saturday across eight cities. Organizers, including the recently formed October 17 Movement, student federations, and grassroots unions, plan to march against the cost of living and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration. The group stated on Instagram that it views the government as authoritarian.

Police conducted raids in multiple cities on Friday to identify suspects from the previous weekend's unrest. An additional 150 searches took place in the Lombardy region on Saturday morning. Authorities have kept the specific meeting locations for the new rallies secret until the last minute. Three points will be announced on social media on Saturday afternoon.

Investigators have located the administrator of the movement's main Instagram page. Corriere della Sera identifies the individual as a 30-year-old freelance journalist and researcher of Italian and Moroccan descent. He is currently being questioned on suspicion of inciting crimes.

Youth remain the central demographic in the unrest. Of the 271 people detained last Sunday, 220 were under the age of 18. Lawyer Michele D'Agostino, who represents a 15-year-old defendant, said the teenager learned of the protest through TikTok and did not understand the gravity of the situation. The public prosecutor has cited social media as a factor that led young people to engage in what he called insurrectional acts.

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told Sky TG24 that the country must increase the capacity of its youth detention facilities to handle the number of minor arrests. This response follows the mass detentions that occurred during last Sunday's events in Milan.

In a separate development, truck drivers in southern Italy established roadblocks earlier this week to protest high fuel prices. The blockades left several markets without supplies for days. On Thursday, the government responded by granting tax breaks and creating a special fund for farmers and fishermen.