While French President Emmanuel Macron, unsurprisingly, chose to blame his fellow French citizens for the violent Islamo-Marxist riots tearing through his country and spreading across Europe.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, however, is calling the rioters exactly what they are….thugs.

Originally framed as ‘student’ protests that ignited over so-called crowded classrooms and teacher shortages, the protests expanded to other cities and countries and became violent as Muslim migrants used them as an excuse to take over the streets.

The violence has spread to Italy, Albania and Belgium.

The Gateway Pundit reported that Italy’s wave began on October 5.

Now, Meloni has announced a new decree and four new measures to combat violent riots and looting, noting that people of foreign background constitute half of the 330 people arrested and detained so far.

The new measures include prison sentences of up to 5 years and fines of €20,000 for participating in violent protests.

Under the new decree:

• Rioters acting in groups of 5 or more face tougher penalties, particularly if they conceal their faces or injure someone
• Parents will be held financially responsible for damage caused by their underage children.
• Preventive detention powers will be extended to minors.
• An additional 500 soldiers will be deployed to Milan until the end of the year.
• Juvenile courts and detention facilities will receive additional resources.

Translation provided by the Italian Government:

“We have all seen the footage of the violence that swept through Milan and other Italian cities over the weekend, with shops being ransacked, shop windows smashed and police officers attacked. No one can possibly downplay or justify such unacceptable scenes. This is why the Council of Ministers has today approved a decree introducing new measures to prevent and combat this violence. These are in addition to the other measures that have been approved over the last months, starting with biometric recognition – also using artificial intelligence – in order to put a name to those hiding behind a hoodie. I’ll explain the new provisions introduced by today’s measures in the simplest possible terms.”

“First, we have established a new crime: violent participation in a protest. In other words, if you join a group of five or more people during a march or a protest and you start throwing stones, firecrackers, sticks – jeopardising everyone’s safety – then you risk up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to EUR 20,000. If your face was covered or you injured someone, then those sentences are increased, and there are also harsher penalties for those who commit acts of destruction as part of a group.”

“Second, we are applying a simple principle: if you break something, you pay, and if you break something and you’re under 18, then your parents pay. How does this work? If the damage has been caused to public property, such as a bus shelter, a traffic light or a police or army vehicle, then the Prefecture will send a payment order to your house. If the damage has been caused to private property, such as a shop window, a store or someone’s car, then the owner can go to court and obtain an immediately enforceable payment order.”

“It will of course be possible to appeal but, in the meantime, the parents of that young person who had fun smashing everything will have to pay. Those who have suffered the damage may seek compensation from everything – from that family’s assets and even any money the State may owe them. ”

“Third: juveniles. At the moment, in the case of a young person aged between 14 and 18, the State has to prove each time that they were capable of understanding what they were doing. We have already approved legislation to overturn this principle, namely with the presumption that they were capable of understanding what they were doing, unless proven otherwise. That piece of legislation is currently before Parliament, but today’s decree makes it immediately effective. Moreover, the preventive detention measure, which until now was only applicable to adults, can now be applied to minors too.”

“Fourth: 500 additional soldiers will be arriving in Milan, who will work alongside the police and Carabinieri officers until the end of the year. We are also providing the youth justice system with more judges and prosecutors as well as more places in detention centres, so that the certainty of punishment also applies to 16-year-olds.”

“These are the main measures, because we will do everything we can to prevent what we have seen over the last few days from becoming the norm. Almost 200 officers have been injured and, according to Confcommercio, the damage in Milan alone amounts to approximately EUR 1 million. Who was out on those streets and squares? There were the usual fringe agitators – the ones who look for clashes at every protest march – but, alongside them, there was something new this time. Hundreds of very young people, very many of them under the age of 18, arrived in small groups after being called together by a video on social media; kids came out onto the streets to smash things and steal while filming themselves doing it. We must seriously address this phenomenon, also in order to prevent those images from becoming an example to be copied.”

“However, I also want to be clear: there is no political idea, social hardship or opposition to the Government that can justify a shop being destroyed to take its merchandise. Behind that shop window is a family who has invested a lifetime’s worth of sacrifices, there are workers who risk losing their jobs and there are citizens who have the right to enjoy their city without fear. There is nothing revolutionary about vandalism and theft.”

“Vandalism and theft are not a protest; they are a crime. And the State must respond firmly. Public security forces have detained and arrested 330 people, half of whom are of foreign origin – either born abroad or born in Italy to foreign families. I expect the crimes that have been committed to be swiftly prosecuted and all available regulations to be strictly enforced, including those in the recent ‘security decrees’. ”

“There is one fact in particular which, in my view, should make everyone stop and think: the youngest of the minors identified in Milan is reportedly just 11 years old. This is painful and frightening, and it concerns us all. We cannot allow some youngsters to grow up thinking that smashing a window is a way of getting respect, or that some views on social media are worth more than their future. We cannot accept anyone ending up justifying them for political convenience or perhaps for self-promotion. We understand the difficulties that many young people face, and we know what it means to be looking for a job, to have inadequate pay and to see no prospects for the future. We have been working on these problems since the very start of our term and will continue to do so; we work on them every day. ”

“However, hardship cannot become an excuse for violence, first and foremost because violence only exacerbates hardship; it cannot cure it. Secondly, because when a shop window is shattered, it is not those in power who pay the price; it is the shopkeepers, the workers and the local area – precisely the ordinary people who some claim they want to defend.”

“I want to be equally clear in distinguishing between those who commit acts of violence and those who protest peacefully to ask for answers. I am thinking of the farmers, the truck drivers, the workers at the former Ilva steel plant and the many communities going through difficult times – the Government engages in dialogue with them and is working to find solutions. Just today, Minister Salvini met with representatives from the road haulage industry to address the sector’s difficulties and identify additional responses. The State that is saying no to violence is the same State that is listening to those who protest while respecting others. It is precisely on this distinction that I am also asking for clarity from all the political forces. Acts of violence must be condemned without ambiguity, without justifications and without distinctions based on who commits them.”

“I think it is extremely serious that institutional representatives have gone so far as to publicise information on getting free legal assistance following the devastation in Milan. I consider any attempt at presenting looting and destruction as a legitimate way of raising social grievances to be unacceptable. Those with political responsibility should be the first to point out that no cause can authorise workers being targeted, public security officers being attacked or our cities being destroyed.”

“This is why I am calling for everyone, regardless of their political views, to stand on the side of lawfulness, freedom and respect for the rules. We will continue to do our part to protect those who protest peacefully, those who work and those who simply want to live in safety.”

“Protesting is a right, tearing our cities apart is not. We have said so, and we will prove it through our actions.”

Watch:

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