Residents organize patrols against foreigners in Italy: two Moroccans assaulted
Residents of Rozzano, near Milan, organized several patrols after a woman was assaulted. Two Moroccans were beaten in the street. The public prosecutor’s office is now investigating violence aggravated by racial hatred.
Tension 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 passers-by rushed at the young man and beat him before law enforcement arrived. Later that day, he was reportedly recognized again and attacked during an impromptu gathering of residents.
The incident quickly went beyond this initial assault. Residents began walking through the streets of the Flowers district to identify people they suspected of being involved in drug trafficking and local violence.
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A second Moroccan, aged in his forties, was then assaulted. According to La Repubblica, the man, who was intoxicated, reportedly happened to be encountered 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 in 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. For now, the investigation is focused 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, deeming it “unacceptable” that residents should attempt to take justice into their own hands.
The municipality is among the Italian areas targeted by a national program against crime and urban decay. Discontent among part of the population has been longstanding, but the authorities point out that combating delinquency is the exclusive responsibility of the police and the justice system.
The case comes a few weeks after another violent assault targeting a Moroccan in Lombardy. In Rozzano, the public prosecutor’s office must now determine individual responsibility and verify whether the victims were targeted because of their origin.
