Iron-fisted crackdown: soldiers in Milan, preventive arrests. Watch out for Russian meddling

Now it is a matter of passing judgement and punishing (the parents). The army is arriving in Milan, with 500 additional troops sent by Minister Crosetto and Under-Secretary Perego, whilst the devastation is set to be equated, at today’s Council of Ministers meeting, with criminal association. There is also a return to pre-trial detention for up to 24 hours and arrest in the act for minors (aged 14–18). It is important to avoid the absurdity of conspiracy theories—the idea that the events in Milan, the shop windows smashed by 12-year-olds, and the blood of the deputy police commissioner, are helping to justify repression, as in Bellocchio’s film "Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina". Meloni is concerned because her electorate does not like disorder and because, on Telegram channels – channels such as ‘Free to fight against the state of war and the police’ – Putinist propaganda and Cyrillic bots are infiltrating. These are two fears. The first is that of the police, who, following the events in Bologna and the ‘Fakir’ case, do not want to be seen as executioners, like the Bava and Beccari brothers; and the other is that of the government, which does not want to be seen as weak, as a ‘featherweight’ Meloni.

It is an outrage – as has already been written and thought – that the right wing feeds off this violence to fill the cells, quell demonstrations, pave the way for the Scelba laws, and crush the left with a barrage of decrees and truncheons. The devastation in Milan is like ‘400 Blows to the Duomo’ – minors who, as Paolo Barelli, Under-Secretary for Relations with Parliament, also says: ‘How can you punish them? Let’s be serious. It’s a problem that also concerns education, parents, and I’m not afraid to say, integration too.’

Dear Barelli, do we need a curfew like in France? “Let’s not overdo it and let’s hope we don’t have to go that far.” The meeting at Palazzo Chigi, attended by Meloni, Mantovano, Fazzolari, Crosetto, Piantedosi, and the deputy leaders Tajani and Salvini, as well as Lollobrigida, which was convened at lunchtime, concluded at teatime. The Council of Ministers meeting scheduled for Friday has been brought forward to today at 5:30 p.m., while certain parts of the Security Bill have been transferred to a decree-law. It has been decided that only the government will speak. The Piantedosi-Nordio-Crosetto-Giorgetti-Valditara-Roccella-Zangrillo-Abodi bill (tabled in the Senate) is pulled out of the parliamentary drawer, with a section to be spun off; the same appears to be happening with the Bignami-Filini-Kelany-Montaruli-Delmastro bill. Discussions are held with the Quirinale to avoid grammatical errors and constitutional hyperbole, and to ensure that the provision on pre-trial detention – this time for 24 hours (last time it was blocked by the Quirinale) – is flawless. Penalties for the offences of vandalism and looting are toughened. The army takes care of the rest. The usual tug-of-war over the ‘Strade sicure’ programme is resolved loyally by Crosetto and Perego, whom Tajani wants as mayor of Milan. An additional 500 soldiers are deployed in the city. They say that even the most level-headed people at Chigi have asked themselves: ‘How can you punish a twelve-year-old?’. There is a sense of disorientation among the officers, visible in the videos circulating online. They are surrounded by journalists filming—the very same people who, according to Chigi, would be shouting ‘state violence’ if just one of those injured officers were to react. It is the ‘Bologna effect’, the Fakir case. The officers fear being left to their own devices, and Meloni has understood this. She will not tolerate these protests being exploited by Vannacci, who is holding a press conference today (and not by chance) entitled ‘Vannacci Reform’ (note that, in Enrico Mentana’s latest poll, FN has lost two points and the coalitions are now neck and neck). There is method and thought behind Meloni’s attack on the public prosecutors over those arrears – that ruling requiring the state to adjust magistrates’ salaries. Beyond the controversy surrounding the Council of State – judges deciding on the remuneration of other judges – Meloni is attacking them with a specific aim: to demonstrate that those arrested on Saturday were already out by Sunday, ‘always following a judge’s decision’, as government sources explain. Another example cited concerns the high-speed rail link (TAV). The government is bringing a civil claim for damages dating back to 2011. It took over 15 years for the judgements to be handed down before the civil claim could be filed. On the violence in Milan (proof that the Left is represented by Mattarella, with or without the primaries, as Schlein would say; incidentally: ‘one person is not equal to one’, with or without the primaries… do you know what they think over in Conte’s camp? That this is arrogance), well, on the subject of violence, Mattarella (who also spoke of ‘provinces left in the lurch by the legislature’) said: “We need an intelligent and in-depth analysis”, “careful vigilance capable of countering violence” coming from “unidentified individuals”. Who are these unidentified individuals? The security services are monitoring the comments sections under the videos and uncovering bots like this one: _.dima.1.3.1.2._, complete with a Russian flag. This is not proof, but it is circumstantial evidence – just as the usual southern ‘forconismo’ (a form of radical protest), which is always at the forefront of demonstrations, is not proof but is circumstantial evidence. Who do they serve? In the Chamber of Deputies, Dario Franceschini merely states that “it depends on the form the violence takes”.

He is among those – an ever-dwindling number – who believe that, in the end, there will be an election in October 2027. We’ll leave the philosophical conclusion to Barelli, who explains: “The world is in turmoil. There’s a shortage of energy and petrol prices could rise even further. Add to that the fact that Trump is changing his policy towards Russia.” In a nutshell? “We’re in deep shit because we don’t have nuclear power. Even Germany is in deep shit. France has nuclear power, but as we can see, it’s in deep shit. Spain is in deep shit but is heading for an election.” And Trump is flushing the toilet together with Putin.