Violent Clashes Erupt in Turin as Anarchists Confront Police

Violent clashes erupted in Turin, Italy over the weekend when anarchist and leftist protesters attacked police following the eviction of a long-occupied social center, leaving more than 100 security personnel injured and prompting a strong response from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Demonstrators dressed in black confronted riot police during a march in support of the Askatasuna social center, a building that experts say had been occupied by far-left activists for decades before authorities recently evicted them. Video footage captured protesters hurling objects at officers and forcing police lines to retreat amid clouds of red smoke.

According to Italian authorities, 108 security personnel were injured during the violence. Protesters armed themselves with bottles, stones, homemade incendiary devices and smoke bombs. They also set fire to garbage bins and a police armored vehicle, while using street furniture and uprooted lampposts as weapons against the officers.

Prime Minister Meloni responded forcefully to the unrest, visiting injured officers at Turin’s Le Molinette hospital and sharing photos of her visit on social media platform X.

“Against them: hammers, Molotov cocktails, nail-filled paper bombs, stones launched with catapults, blunt objects of every kind, and jammers to prevent the police from communicating,” Meloni wrote. Quoting one officer, she added: “They were there to kill us.”

“These are not protesters. These are organized criminals. This is attempted murder,” the prime minister declared, vowing that violence against police and threats to public order would not be tolerated under her administration.

Dr. Lorenzo Vidino, director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, told Fox News Digital that while the images from Turin were shocking, such violence is not unprecedented in the region.

“Turin in particular is a hotbed of anarchist and hardcore communist groups,” Vidino explained. “But we’ve had this in many other places in Italy, and it happens throughout Europe.”

Vidino described the recent “liberation” of the Askatasuna building as a catalyst for the broader reaction, noting that the unrest involved “a network of not just Italian but European anarchists and communists, with some pro-Palestinian groups.” He characterized it as a “fairly well-established coalition of groups” that “routinely engage in this sort of violence,” with Antifa forming part of the broader coalition involved in the Turin incidents.

U.S. and Europe analyst Matthew Tyrmand drew parallels between the events in Turin and similar incidents in American cities. “It’s not that dissimilar to what you see in the U.S. at times,” he said. “Think about Seattle, or Cop City in Atlanta or Portland. It’s the same odd coalition of leftist groups, anarchists, pro-Palestinian groups and random individuals coming together.”

Tyrmand noted that Italy has a lengthy history of militant left-wing activism. “Italy has a long history of hardcore leftist organizing,” he said. “When a right-wing leader like Meloni comes into power, they get especially ginned up. Violence is their modus operandi.”

The clashes follow what Vidino described as a turning point for authorities – a previous attack on the offices of La Stampa, one of Italy’s most prominent newspapers. “Storming the offices of a major newspaper crossed a red line,” Vidino said.

On Monday, Meloni announced that she had chaired a meeting at Palazzo Chigi to assess the “serious episodes of violence against the police forces” and to determine appropriate measures to guarantee public safety moving forward.

Both analysts suggested that the tactics and alliances seen in Turin mirror patterns observed during street protests in various countries, with Vidino describing it as “a permanent presence of these networks that mobilize quickly around symbolic causes.”

The incidents highlight the ongoing tension between far-left groups and Italy’s right-wing government, with Meloni’s strong response signaling her administration’s determination to crack down on political violence.