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Vietnam editionOn Saturday, October 17, the Milan march against the cost of living turned violent in Piazza Duomo, with stones, paper bombs and fireworks thrown at officers according to ANSA, Il Mattino and Today.it. Sky TG24 places the first clashes in Via Broletto and the later disorder in Piazza Duomo, Piazza Cordusio and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The Questura’s toll, picked up by MilanoToday and Tuttonotizie, gives 72 people taken to the police station, 16 arrests (17 in the later update), 22 people formally reported and 104 officers treated. Leggo puts the damage at over 500,000 euros. On Sunday Meloni called a public-order meeting at Palazzo Chigi for Monday, October 19 (ANSA, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Il Messaggero). The Lega is calling for a decree with preventive detention even for minors (ANSA, Il Messaggero).
A summit called after two days of disorder tests the government’s response: the Lega’s demands point to the direction of a possible urgent intervention, but the actual measures are not yet known. The toll of injured officers and the presence of minors among the first detained shift the debate from the cost of living to public order.
If you live or work near the center of Milan, check the notices from the Questura and the city on closed streets and transport before you set out. For the numbers, always look at the time of the release: between Saturday and Sunday the figures changed several times.
The government is betting on firmness and new tools. Meloni said that any reticence about street violence becomes justification and that the government stands with the police; Piantedosi spoke of professionals of disorder and assured that minors will not go unpunished. The Lega is calling for preventive detention even for minors and an offense of group damage.
Mayor Sala reads the facts from the angle of security on the street: he said the moment was underestimated and that the police officers, about 200, were few. Piantedosi replied by speaking of a usual reflex of a certain radical-chic left.
Confirmed by several outlets: the march turned violent, the Questura supplied the numbers cited and Meloni called Monday’s summit. Not confirmed: the official list of participants, the measures the government will adopt and the final toll of damage. Today the focus is on what comes out of Palazzo Chigi and on whether the Lega’s request on preventive detention enters a decree.
ANSA, Sky TG24, Il Mattino, Today.it, Il Giorno, MilanoToday, Tuttonotizie, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Leggo, Il Messaggero, Adnkronos, LaPresse (October 17-18, 2026)
After the clashes in Milan, Meloni calls a public-order summit for Monday, the Lega demands preventive detention even for minors
Saturday October 17’s march against the cost of living turned violent in Piazza Duomo; Piantedosi speaks of “professionals of disorder” and Mayor Sala of too few officers.
On Saturday, October 17, the Milan march against the cost of living turned violent in Piazza Duomo. Sky TG24 reports that the first clashes between some participants and the police took place in Via Broletto and that the disorder continued in Piazza Duomo, Piazza Cordusio and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II after the demonstration had been dissolved. ANSA, Il Mattino and Today.it speak of stones, paper bombs and fireworks thrown at officers, and Il Giorno adds that a construction site was set on fire. The Questura’s toll, picked up by MilanoToday and Tuttonotizie, gives 72 people taken to the police station, 16 arrests rising to 17 in the later update, 22 people formally reported and 104 law-enforcement officers who needed medical care, a figure described as still partial. In the first hours the numbers were lower: ANSA counted about 50 detained, almost half of them minors, and Il Fatto Quotidiano 25 injured, ten of them officers. Leggo puts the damage at over 500,000 euros.
On Sunday, October 18, Meloni said the government stands with the police and that citizens must be able to live in their city without fear, and called a public-order meeting at Palazzo Chigi for Monday, October 19 (ANSA, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Il Messaggero). On Saturday evening she had said that any reticence about street violence becomes justification (ANSA, Today.it). According to Il Fatto Quotidiano and Il Messaggero, Ministers Piantedosi and Crosetto and Deputy Prime Ministers Salvini and Tajani would sit at the table; neither the list of participants nor the measures have been made public. Piantedosi spoke of “actions by professionals of disorder” and said that not even minors will go unpunished (ANSA). The Lega, write ANSA and Il Messaggero, is calling for an urgent decree with preventive detention even for minors, a ban on assembly for those who commit group violence and an offense of group damage; Il Messaggero lists among the options a measure modeled on the Caivano decree or speeding up some provisions of the security bill, under discussion in the Senate. Mayor Sala said he had the impression that the moment was underestimated and spoke of about 200 police officers, “there were few”; Piantedosi replied on X with a “usual reflex” of a certain radical-chic left (Adnkronos, LaPresse, Il Messaggero).
By the numbers
Word of the day
preventive detentionJusticeA measure by which a person can be held before committing a crime; the Lega is calling for it to be extended to minors.