Clashes in Bologna following the march in support of Abderrahim Fakir. Bignami (FdI): “Lepore must resign”

In Bologna, clean-up operations are underway and the damage is being assessed following the night-time street clashes that erupted after the demonstration in Piazza Nettuno calling for truth and justice for Abderrahim Fakir, a 42-year-old man of Moroccan origin who died whilst in police custody. Shopkeepers are photographing shop windows defaced with anti-police graffiti; shards of broken glass and slogans on the walls (“Fakir Lives”) can still be seen here and there, whilst street-cleaning vehicles are at work at the sites of the clashes (particularly in Piazza Roosevelt). According to some accounts, in addition to smashed shop windows and torn-down barriers, at least two cars were set alight. 

According to initial reports, 11 people – including police officers and protesters – sustained minor injuries during last night’s clashes in Bologna, following the demonstration organised by Mayor Matteo Lepore. The 118 emergency service treated five police officers and four protesters, whilst one officer and one protester were taken to hospital with non-serious injuries. According to Domenico Pianese, general secretary of the Coisp police union, the figures are different: “The toll from last night’s unrest in Bologna reads like a war report: 56 police officers were injured after being struck by huge stones, glass bottles and firecrackers thrown by violent groups of protesters and anarchists,” he stated in a press release. Specifically, “we have counted 15 officers injured from the Padua Mobile Unit, 26 from the Florence unit and 15 from the Bologna unit, with recovery times of up to 15 days”. 

Late in the evening, several hundred protesters also gathered at the peaceful demonstration organised in Piazza del Nettuno. Following the speeches in the square in memory of Fakir, a group of demonstrators made their way towards Piazza Roosevelt, where the police headquarters is located, and where officers were deployed. It was here that the first clashes began. A cordon of police officers in riot gear began to advance into the square whilst some demonstrators threw bottles and poles at them, whilst armoured vehicles were deployed to defend the Police Headquarters and the Prefecture. The officers fired several tear gas canisters at the demonstrators and used water cannons to disperse them. 

On their return to Via Ugo Bassi, the protesters began smashing the bikes belonging to the bike-sharing scheme and using the barriers from the tram construction sites to defend themselves against the police charges. Some protesters then threw objects, including chairs from the outdoor seating areas of local bars. All this whilst, just a few hundred metres away, in Piazza Maggiore, the people of Bologna were gathered in front of the giant screen set up for the open-air film festival to watch a screening of "Pirates of the Caribbean" – an event that was subsequently cancelled due to the clashes. During the protests over the death of Abderrahim Fakir, at least one council car was set alight, forcing the fire brigade to intervene. They were also called to Via Monte Grappa, where a smoke bomb had caught fire in a courtyard. 

The centre-right has reacted strongly. “The mayor of Bologna must resign. Those who start fires must be held to account,” wrote Galeazzo Bignami, leader of the Fratelli d’Italia parliamentary group, in X, commenting on the clashes between groups of protesters and the police at the rally. Stefano Cavedagna, an FdI MEP, echoed this sentiment: “It was the mayor himself who called for people to take to the streets – a profoundly misguided decision, because when one demands justice, one starts from the premise that an injustice has been committed, ultimately ending up blaming the police officers.” Meloni-aligned city councillors Gabriele Giordani and Elena Foresti also called for the mayor’s resignation: "Last night we witnessed not a demonstration but the devastation of a city; Bologna was held hostage by a mob of violent thugs who were just waiting for a pretext to lay waste to our city. A mayor cannot fail to have a firm grasp of the situation and must take responsibility; Matteo Lepore must resign."

“We are faced with a demagogue of a mayor who, safe within his palaces like a modern-day Nero, looks down from on high as Bologna burns,” said Salvatore Deidda, MP for Fratelli d’Italia and chair of the Transport Committee. “By irresponsibly exploiting the anger of those who had already passed hasty judgements, and by calling a demonstration following the death of a man in police custody, he has handed the streets over to the professional troublemakers of the far left, who are now smashing shop windows, throwing firecrackers and setting cars alight.” Simonetta Matone, a Lega MP, shared this view “How is it possible that, within just 24 hours of the events, Bologna City Council organised a street demonstration – which was hijacked by extremists – to demand truth and justice? There wasn’t even time for the judiciary and law enforcement agencies to launch an investigation. This is clear proof that those very same institutions have no confidence in the public prosecutors or the police,” she said, referring to how Fakir’s death had been exploited “to attack the government, which is combating irregular immigration”.