Italian Police Deploy Tear Gas and Water Cannon at Winter Olympics Protest
Italian police have utilised tear gas and a water cannon to disperse dozens of violent demonstrators near a Winter Olympics venue on Saturday. The confrontation erupted after a largely peaceful march by thousands of protesters, who were voicing opposition to the environmental consequences of the Games and the presence of United States security agents in Italy.
Clash Near Olympic Hockey Rink
The brief but intense skirmish occurred as protesters attempted to access a highway close to the Santagiulia Olympic ice hockey rink. Police successfully held off the demonstrators, who had thrown firecrackers and appeared intent on reaching the venue. By this time, the main peaceful protest, which included families with young children and students, had already dispersed.
Earlier in the day, a group of masked individuals set off smoke bombs and firecrackers on a bridge overlooking a construction site approximately 800 metres from the Olympic Village, which houses around 1,500 athletes. A heavy police presence, including vans positioned behind a temporary metal fence, secured the road to the athletes’ village. However, the protest diverted away, continuing towards the Santagiulia venue.
Authorities confirmed there was no indication that the protest or the resulting road closure disrupted athletes' transfers to their events, all of which are located on the outskirts of Milan.
Protest Coincides with US Vice President's Visit
The demonstration coincided with the visit of United States Vice President JD Vance to Milan, who led the American delegation at the opening ceremony on Friday. Vance and his family visited Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" in the city centre, far from the protest site. The protest also targeted the deployment of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who are providing security for the US delegation.
It is standard practice for US Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit focusing on cross-border crimes, to send officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. However, there is no indication that officers from Enforcement and Removal Operations, the ICE arm known for immigration crackdowns in the US, are being deployed to Italy.
Peaceful March Highlights Environmental Concerns
The larger peaceful demonstration, which police estimated at 10,000 participants, featured creative displays of dissent. Protesters carried cardboard cutouts representing trees felled to construct the new bobsled run in Cortina. A group of dancers performed to drumbeats, while music, including a profanity-laced anti-ICE anthem, blasted from a truck leading the march.
Banners with slogans such as "Let’s take back the cities and free the mountains" were displayed by a group calling itself the Unsustainable Olympic Committee. The Association of Proletariat Excursionists organised the tree cutouts. Protester Guido Maffioli expressed concerns that the private entity organising the Games might eventually pass on debt to Italian taxpayers, citing bypassed laws for major infrastructure projects due to Olympic urgency.
Homemade signs read "Get out of the Games: Genocide States, Fascist Police and Polluting Sponsors," the latter referencing fossil fuel companies sponsoring the Games. One woman carried an artificial tree on her back adorned with the sign: "Infernal Olympics."
This demonstration follows a similar protest last week against the deployment of ICE agents. Demonstrators on Saturday reiterated their opposition to ICE agents' presence, despite official statements that only a small number of agents from an investigative arm would be present in US diplomatic territory and not operational on Italian streets.
