Police clash with students in Turin as anti-government rallies draw support across Italy

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

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

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

The protests across Italy were organized by students opposed to the policies of the Meloni government, particular in education. Some protests were coupled with demonstrations against arms sales to Israel and in support of the people of Gaza.

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

Demonstrators 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 museum of cinema, 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 protesters in Rome chanted slogans including “Every day is a No-Meloni day.”

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

Expressing solidarity with the injured officers in a social media post, she wrote: “I hope that certain politicians stop protecting or justifying this violence and unambiguously join in condemning such serious and unworthy episodes.”

By Giada Zampano, The Associated Press