Italy: Police Raid Homes Following Riots

ROME -- Italian police conducted raids Monday throughout the country against suspected anarchists and their sympathizers following riots in Rome that marred a march against Wall Street greed, a top security official said.

Interior Ministry Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano told Sky TG24 TV that the crackdown targeted far-left suspects. He gave no details because the operation, which included house searches, was still being carried out.

Italian news reports said police raided homes and youth centers where extremists are known to hang out in cities including Florence, Palermo and Ancona. Six people were detained, along with the seizure of gas masks, ski masks and other gear used by rioters as protection from tear gas and to hide their faces, the ANSA news agency reported.

Mantovano dismissed criticism that police weren't tough enough against the several hundred rioters Saturday. Rioters used clubs and sledgehammers to smash bank ATMs and store windows, torch police and private vehicles and hurl cobblestones and chunks of sidewalk they had ripped out. Police battled back with tear gas, water cannon and batons.

Politicians from both the opposition and Premier Silvio Berlusconi's coalition called for a get-tough campaign against so-called "urban guerrillas."

"There was tried and true urban terrorism," Francesco Giro, a Culture Ministry undersecretary said, surveying damage near Rome's St. John Lateran Basilica.

"We need to apply anti-terrorism laws," ANSA quoted Giro as saying in a call for authorities to launch preventive crackdowns on anarchists and insurrectionists.

See photos of demonstrators in Rome protesting on October 15, 2011:

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Comments

[BillyRI]

10:11 AM on 10/18/2011

Prosecutor Minnini has issued an arrest warrant, in abstentia, for Amanda Knox for her role in inciting riots in Rome over the past few days. Chief Giobbi, who now prefers the moniker Dr. Phil, said that Knox's legendary powers of ESPN telepathically influenced the anarchists responsible for the destruction. As proof, he cited photos of Knox found in homes of suspects that were raided. US Justice Dept. officials said that they will comment after they finish shipping leftover assault weapons to Mexico.

[Iain Campbell]

08:58 AM on 10/18/2011

I may be a little paranoid, but I am starting to suspect that governments might be embedding operatives within protests with the sole purpose of causing violence, thus enabling their masters to taint protesters as trouble-makers, anarchists and worse.

[111222333]

04:04 PM on 10/18/2011

I would say you are NOT Paranoid...the gov't will do anything to have things their way. Planting people in things like this that disagree with gov't makes sense. We live in a free country as long as we follow like sheep. Be born go thru life pay you taxes don't make waves and die. The gov't was supposed to be a gov't by the people for the people as our founding Fathers set it up. Now we vote in the crooks and they run our lives...we work for them not them working for us. Good Morning America.

[rehaulku]

05:22 AM on 10/18/2011

Fascis is still alive.

[Howard Lee Studstill]

10:25 PM on 10/17/2011

Well, we all know how fair and just those Italian cops are!!!! Why are they called anarchists and terrorists? Don't they have a right to change their country?

[chronjohn]

09:25 PM on 10/17/2011

Why do they always call rioters "anarchists" and then not even mention which faction of anarchy these people are part of: are they anarcho-capitalists, anarcho-syndicalists, anarcho-primitivists, anarcho-communists, veganarchists.. the distinction is PRETTY important. Most anarchists don’t just want a Stateless society for kicks and giggles; there’s a very deep and fundamental reason for coming to the logical conclusion that governments are immoral and thus should not exist. It goes like this:

We are all people. None of us are born as a “tax collector” or a “police man” or any of these other imaginary labels that people acquire as they go through life. So since we are all people, and it is logically inconsistent to say that theft, assault, and murder are moral, then the moral statement “theft is wrong” can and should be applied to all people. But somewhere along the way, humans decided to start classifying people as different from each other somehow; for someone labeled the “tax collector” it is okay to steal a portion of someone’s income against their will, just for living within an imaginary boundary created by someone the victim of this theft has probably never met, let alone had any influence over. Somewhere along the line society found it morally righteous for people labeled “police” and “soldiers” to kill other people, even if it is not in direct defense of equally hostile actions.

[chronjohn]

10:20 PM on 10/17/2011

Even if these rioters were actual anarchists, it’s obvious that someone, either in a corporation or in the government, is paying them to stage these riots. Why else would they directly hurtle themselves into a futile conflict with a heavily armed police force?
There’s a reason the corporate media and their puppeteers in the government label these rioters “anarchists.” Those in power do not want you to know that you are not free. They do not want you to think for a second that you don’t need them. They do not want you to even consider a society without a government that steals almost half your income and then turns around and uses that money to control you, manipulate you, and dominate every aspect of your life. They don’t want to release their deathgrip on the power to steal, murder, assault, lie, and coerce with impunity.

That is why we must absolutely dismantle the web of violence and distortion that we call “the government.” And remember: the government is not real. They’re all just people like you and I. They have no inherent right to control others through coercion and violence any more than you or I do. The whole system is just held up by silly pieces of paper… and lots of guns of course. So when you’ve had enough with the false left/right paradigm, endless war, debt and violence, just go to your government officials and ask them:

Put the guns down. Please.

[dburkwald]

08:47 PM on 10/17/2011

Nothing like a good old fashion Italian panty raid.

[moguns]

06:45 PM on 10/17/2011

that is what our cops need to do....just kidding..

[Howard Lee Studstill]

10:26 PM on 10/17/2011

Don't worry, I'm sure they will soon enough.

[darkwaterz29]

06:07 PM on 10/17/2011

Good idea. Go house-to-house. Charge each one with property damage, assault, arson---and let them think for the next ten years about how cool anarchy sounds in their college manifestos versus real life.

[Louise Aloft]

11:55 AM on 10/18/2011

beware of media buzz-words.

[spiffy187]

05:48 PM on 10/17/2011

The far left can be just as dangerous as the far right.

[TimFredrickson]

08:01 PM on 10/17/2011

Hhmmm let's see about that: Rightwing Nazis vs. Left wing demonstraters? Nope, the far right is still more dangerous.

[chopas]

09:26 PM on 10/17/2011

The problem is that the Right tries to paint the demonstraters as Communists, Socialists and anarchists. They are very good at labeling and name-calling. I will watch O'Reilly to at least hear the Right's position and talking points, but get re-balanced by watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I like to think of myself as a free-thinker. Neither side delivers the absolute truth and both political parties outright lie to your face. I find that the Right is a lot more dogmatic and will adhere to that dogma to the bitter end. The Left, on the other hand, has been very hard to motivate, because until 2008, there was very little to get excited about. They just kind of went along for the ride. In 2008 they gave the government the benefit of the doubt that it would do the right thing to get us out of the mess...big mistake. It will get worse. Our jobs will continue to move to foreign shores. We talked the world into being Capitalists and now they are beating us at our own game. How?...cheap labor, low taxes and unfair trade practices. We are fat and lazy and they want what we have had that made us that way.

[BEATRIX KIDDO]

05:31 PM on 10/17/2011

How hard would it have been for huffpo to say "Raids on homes in ITALY after riots" ?

[darkwaterz29]

06:07 PM on 10/17/2011

You know as well as I....that's not how they get people to read the pedantic stories behind the sensationally-worded headlines.

[Adam Dray]

05:02 PM on 10/17/2011

You really wanta help the country? GET A JOB, ANY JOB, McDonalds, WalMart ANY JOB!!!!!!!! Get off welfare, or food stamps, or cash assistance/unemployment. THAT WILL HELP ALOT! WORK EXISTS out there people but it isnt gonna be that 6 figure career in that nice office building or that fancy office.........ITS CALLED WORK. SOmetimes you gotta SUCK IT UP, take that lovely degree you wasted all those years in getting, and get a job doing something maybe you wouldnt naturally prefer doing but TOUGH LUCK...SUCK IT UP!

[BEATRIX KIDDO]

05:37 PM on 10/17/2011

And just grab your effing ankles huh? You must be too young to know that wages and jobs have been leaving America for nearly 30 years now.When I was growing up mu fathers wages supported a five member household and he wasn't a professional, he was a skilled laborer like so many folks back then were.
Do you have any idea of the huge difference in salaries between the ceo's and company owners and the wages of the people that do the actual work? We're effing sick and tired of sucking it up so go ahead and bend over for them if you want to but let the rest of us get this country back on the right track.
BTW, corporate welfare is far greater than the pittance that we give the truley needy via food stamps etc.

[Adam Dray]

06:23 PM on 10/17/2011

actually its called inflation and people only have themselves to blame. If you dont want to spend 400$ for that Ipad WHY DID YOU STILL BUY IT??? Problem is most people just say 'oh well' and respond to increase by STILL buying crap they dont need. What if everyone stopped buying fancy flat tvs from sony...I think they'd drop their prices yes? SO personally, corperate greed is fueled by STUPIDITY of the consumer.........blame yourselves just as much as you wish blame them........they only have 'power' cause peopel GIVE IT TO THEM. I bet 8 out of 10 people protesting, have some sort of cell phone on them from a company thats laughing all the way to the bank!

[moguns]

06:47 PM on 10/17/2011

amen aunt bea!!! great post!!! and it was like that in my family too!!!!

[spiffy187]

05:49 PM on 10/17/2011

I hear ya. You speak the truth.

[Adam Dray]

06:25 PM on 10/17/2011

Thank you and its because of that, that people will get all scornful and probably even claim i'm 'trolling' but I guess the truth hurts and sadly net fiends like most attach some juvenile term to anything they dont like. "Oh you said something I dont like, You're a troll!'....

[Adam Dray]

05:00 PM on 10/17/2011

Sooo, people protesting about wallstreet greed, and not having a job and not able to afford their 'lives'...SO in response they're sitting int he street yelling about it............Personally I'd rather be spending that time, oh I dunno finding work? Just a thought. Im unemployed (for the most part) who gets lucky with jobs here and there (construction)...I can't afford to HOPE sitting int he street complaining about my problems..I would figure anyone in my position would do the same...apparently they aren't broke enough............

[mamasilverhair]

05:56 PM on 10/17/2011

You aren't once you have nothing left to lose you travel light...and the street is the only place to be after that... shame you are not aware of real life...

[darkwaterz29]

06:11 PM on 10/17/2011

OMG...please. If these OWS protesters had actually gotten a degree from a state school---a degree that actual businesses are looking for instead of their "Masters Degree in Womens' Studies" from Columbia (at a cost of $250,000), they might find it a bit easier to make a living and pay their bills. Unfortunately, their $175,000. undergrad degree in "Interpretive Jazz Dance" isn't exactly swaying a prospective employer to hire you in the modern business world. In "Real Life" (as you quote), people take responsibility for their OWN actions after carefully thinking and planning. People who budget, plan, take responsibility and THINK (with a working brain not fried by drugs/alcohol) don't end up on the street.

[chopas]

06:11 PM on 10/17/2011

I’m glad we have true martyrs like you, who will sit back and take it in silence. Your situation could get a lot worse. Everyone has a breaking point, but you sound like some one that is angry at all the wrong people. I don’t understand how you could be unemployed “(for the most part)”. Are there McDonalds in your neighborhood or aren’t you looking hard enough?

[Adam Dray]

06:44 PM on 10/17/2011

Actually no I work construction..when I say most part, its because lay offs are abundunt so I find myself NOT working time to time. And if you wanta be technical the closest mc donalds is over 14 miles away thats besides the point. Im not looking for work.....Im not collecting unemployment, or cash assistance or welfare or anything. I pay taxes. I dont even own my own home. You know what I did different.........instead of sitting at a office downtown hoping to get a 'boost' from government, I went to day labor, or to work, or looked for a job. Im not saying everyone can do that, how can a mother of 2 without a job be able to look for work and afford a babysitter....yeah thats......impossible unless u got 'nice friends and family'.........or....could have used a condum....birth control etc.....I could offer sympathy to the predicaments people are in but...I also recognize ALOT of people, are in that situation cause they didnt 'think' when it mattered...........I wont deny some people genuinely deserve some help....mother of 2, married loving family, maybe both have a job, one dies.....thats a ...genuine situation of fate throwing a curve ball....HOW MANY OF THESE PEOPLE CAN GENUINELY SAY THATS THEIR CASE?

[Chuck Pope]

04:48 PM on 10/17/2011

The stupid thing about the protesters is they are protesting people having money, but then they have been living off the money these same people have been paying out in taxes for years. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Maybe they should get jobs and stop all their crying and the they too could have money. Next they'll be protesting about the type of cars people drive or the size of houses they live in unless they too can have one given to them the same size. Once you start down that path it's hard to stop because then common sense goes out the window.

[Howard Lee Studstill]

02:30 AM on 10/18/2011

None of these people are protesting against people with money. That is not the issue. It goes far deeper. People are uspset because everytime they turn around there is another fee, bill, tool or fare to pay. Prices of goods keep going up but incomes go down, unless you are one of the super-rich. The problem is the way people get rich. There are honest ways and dishonest ways. Unfortunately, some very unscrupulous people have been getting rich by creating misfortune and hardship for others.

[Louise Aloft]

12:06 PM on 10/18/2011

watch this (i mean the actual documentary of course, it shouldn't be too hard to find): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron:_The_Smartest_Guys_in_the_Room

it might give you a little more insight to why people are protesting at wall street.

[Nick127]

04:35 PM on 10/17/2011

I'm sure the GOP trolls are wishing that the OWS protest here in america would turn out that way. That would put a smile on their faces wouldn't it?

[bfrjds1981]

05:38 PM on 10/17/2011

My guess is you would rather see that happen and blame it on the GOP just so you could say "See what they did" and give your side another point in this game we are playing.

[Howard Lee Studstill]

02:31 AM on 10/18/2011

But it is so easy to blame them because they are so blatant and unmitigated in their crimes against us.

[spiffy187]

05:49 PM on 10/17/2011

Your mom is in the GOP.

[mamasilverhair]

05:57 PM on 10/17/2011

How would you know? maybe mom isn't even here ...I mean thats a nasty thing if mom is gone like mine is...

[Nick127]

06:13 PM on 10/17/2011

My mom is dead. Now don't you feel wonderful?

[cabrobst]

04:32 PM on 10/17/2011

Unless the issue of economic justice is answered we will see more of this, and worse.

[miles16852]

05:21 PM on 10/17/2011

especially if gas keeps at the high greedy price of over $3.50 gal! uhhh!!