- Footage of Police beating pro-Palestinian children in Italy has emerged.
- Student marches in Tuscan cities were blocked by police, who used force on peaceful protesters, drawing criticism from politicians and educators.
Footage depicting police beating pro-Palestinian schoolchildren sparked widespread condemnation in Italy on Friday. The opposition urged the interior minister to address parliament regarding the incident. Police blocked student marches in the Tuscan cities of Florence and Pisa. Images of officers using truncheons on young protesters in Pisa elicited outrage on social media and from politicians.
The videos depicted students, who seemed to be protesting peacefully, retreating amid a barrage of blows from law enforcement officers donning helmets and full riot gear.
“Is this how you beat your own children,” one young woman is heard shouting.
The Pisa police were not immediately available for comment. Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, shared a video on Facebook depicting the incident.”unacceptable” scenes of “students trapped in an alleyway, charged and beaten by the police”, he said.
Teachers from Russoli High School in Pisa, located near the site of the protest and attended by some of the students, expressed their concern. “Stunned by the treatment of the protesters, most of whom were minors.
“We found boys and girls from our classes trembling and shocked … from the beatings they received,” the teachers said in a statement, demanding that someone be held responsible for the “shameful day”.
Furthermore, Italian law enforcement and policymakers have come under increased scrutiny recently for their decision to ban Muslim prayers.
