Serious clashes broke out between police and protesters in the northern Italian city of Bologna.
Tensions escalated after the death of 42-year-old Abderrahim Fakir, a Moroccan-born legal resident and local entrepreneur, who died on Sunday during an attempted police arrest.
How did the escalation in Bologna come about?
Law enforcement was called to the northeastern Pilastro district after reports of a man behaving aggressively. According to data from the Italian news agency ANSA (ansa.it), Fakir suffered a psychiatric crisis on a hot Sunday when temperatures exceeded 35 degrees Celsius. Officers used pepper spray, threw him face down on the ground, and tied his limbs together to handcuff him.
A citizen video widely shared on social media shows the man begging for help and gasping for breath before falling unconscious. The case quickly gained international attention, with the agency Reuters (reuters.com) drew a parallel with the murder of George Floyd in the United States.
Protests, tear gas and political repercussions
The wave of discontent swept Bologna, where hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets with slogans against police violence. According to Al Jazeera (aljazeera.com), some protesters threw rocks and improvised explosive devices at police buildings. In response, security forces used tear gas and water cannons.
At the same time, a sharp political clash took place:
The governing coalition: Politicians from the right party “League“ Matteo Salvini and European Affairs Minister Tommaso Foti defended the police, saying they were doing their duty and the chants against them were “disgraceful“. The opposition and the mayor: The center-left opposition and Bologna Mayor Matteo Lepore supported the protests and demanded full transparency.The Bologna prosecutor's office has already opened an investigation into possible manslaughter under a newly introduced legal procedure, and the footage from the officers' body cameras has been seized. The Italian Interior Ministry has promised to investigate the case without compromise.