Police clash with students in Turin as anti-government demonstrations gain support across Italy

ROME (AP) — At least 15 police officers were taken to hospital Friday after clashes in Turin with students protesting Italy’s far-right government of Giorgia Meloni.

The demonstration in the northern Italian city was one of many held across the country, including in Rome and Milan, on what organizers dubbed ‘No Meloni Day’.

The officers in Turin were injured when they were exposed to fumes from a rudimentary explosive used during the clashes, local authorities said.

The protests across Italy were organized by students opposing the policies of the Meloni government, especially in the field of education. There were some protests combined with demonstrations against arms sales to Israel and in support of the people of Gaza.

Clashes broke out in Turin as police blocked students trying to break through a security cordon and reach the door of the prefecture building in the central Piazza Castello.

Protesters used flagpoles to attack police vehicles outside the offices of public broadcaster RAI, while an effigy of Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara was set on fire.

At the city’s popular film museum, protesters stripped the Italian tricolor from the entrance and replaced it with a Palestinian flag.

In Milan, a photo of Meloni was splashed with blood-red paint during a rally, while demonstrators in Rome chanted slogans such as “Every day is a day without Meloni.”

Commenting on the violent scenes in Turin, Meloni said: “Today too we have witnessed unacceptable scenes of violence and chaos in some squares by the usual troublemakers.”

She expressed solidarity with the injured officers in a social media post, writing: “I hope that certain politicians will stop protecting or justifying this violence and unequivocally join in condemning such serious and undignified events.”