Residents organize patrols against foreigners in Italy: two Moroccans assaulted

Tensions erupted on Wednesday, September 16, in this working-class municipality in Milan’s southern suburbs. A woman in her forties accused a 24-year-old Moroccan man of grabbing her by the arm as she was getting into her car.

Alerted by her screams, several passersby rushed at the young man and beat him before law enforcement arrived. Later that day, he was reportedly recognized again and attacked during an improvised gathering of residents.

The matter quickly went beyond this initial assault. Residents began walking through the streets of the Fleurs neighborhood to identify people they suspected of being involved in drug trafficking and local violence.

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A second Moroccan, in his forties, was then assaulted. According to La Repubblica, the man, who was intoxicated, was reportedly encountered by chance in a park before being beaten.

Two brothers, aged 32 and 33, have been identified in the case. They are suspected of violence aggravated by racial hatred.

Up to 300 residents take to the streets

The patrols continued the following day with around 200 participants. On Friday, nearly 300 people marched again, but this time after notifying the police. The demonstrators said they wanted to denounce insecurity rather than target foreigners.

“Let no one say that we are racists,” the organizers notably stated, according to the Italian daily.

Milan prosecutor Marcello Viola is overseeing the case, which is to be assigned to a magistrate. The investigation is currently focusing on the beating of the Moroccan man in his forties, but it could be extended to other incidents, ANSA specifies.

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Rozzano Mayor Mattia Ferretti condemned these initiatives. “The patrols are not Rozzano,” he said, calling it “unacceptable” for residents to attempt to take justice into their own hands.

The municipality is among the Italian areas covered by a national program against crime and urban decay. Discontent among part of the population there is longstanding, but the authorities stress that combating delinquency falls exclusively to the police and the justice system.

The case comes a few weeks after another violent assault targeting a Moroccan in Lombardy. In Rozzano, prosecutors must now determine individual responsibility and establish whether the victims were targeted because of their origin.