Italian brand of OWS goes violent.

[AshleyO]

The protest was meant to be a peaceful demonstration, inspired by the 99% movement. (Political protests are more common in Italy than in other countries and this is obviously not the first time they have been exploited by violent rioters.)

Peaceful protesters and locals have tried to isolate the rioters, without much success. Reporters say they even asked the police to be tougher with violent people. Police reaction was difficult because of the presence of innocent civilians. The peaceful march was interrupted as people left the zones affected by riots. Some people tried to hide from violence in shops and churches.

~70 people have been injured and went to hospitals so far (~30 of them being police officers). Three of them have severe injuries, one has lost two fingers. A policeman had a heart attack. (We do not know how many people self-medicated, so the number of injuries is higher.)

Two TV troupes from SkyTg24 were attacked. A photographer had a head injure.

A government building, said to be a Defense Ministry office, was set on fire; the roof collapsed. The Ministry issued a statement to say it was not one of their offices, but a Police warehouse.

A police van was set on fire (the policemen who were inside managed to escape), along with random cars and trash bins. Gas stations, employment agencies and markets were ransacked. Some Italian and European flags were (accidentally?) burned.

12 people have been arrested.

Hospital workers say that police officers followed ambulances and tried to identify injured patients, threatening to sue any workers who did not comply.

All this information was retrieved from corriere.it, repubblica.it, lastampa.it. Local redditors are invited to correct any wrong assertions.

Shit's getting real in Italy, yo.

[Solumina]

I wonder how quickly people will use the acts of these few to paint a horrific picture of the peaceful protesters everywhere and how many people will readily accept it as the truth.