Meloni condemns anti-Olympics actions in Milan, calling demonstrators 'enemies of Italy'

MILAN (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni condemned recent anti-Olympics protests in Milan and alleged sabotage of train infrastructure, calling those responsible “enemies of Italy and Italians” early Sunday.

The protesters “demonstrate ‘against the Olympics,’ causing these images to end up on televisions around the world. After others cut the railway cables to prevent the trains from leaving,” Meloni said in a statement on Facebook, adding that thousands of Italians are working to keep the Games running smoothly, many of whom are volunteers.

“Solidarity, once again, with the police, the city of Milan, and all those who will see their work undermined by these gangs of criminals," she said.

Italy's transport ministry said that it has opened a terrorism investigation into the synchronized sabotage of railway lines in northern Italy on Saturday. The ministry didn't provide details, but said it would seek millions of euros in compensation from the perpetrators. Thousands of passengers were impacted by the delays.

In Milan, Italian police fired tear gas and a water cannon on Saturday evening at dozens of protesters who threw firecrackers and tried to access a highway near a Winter Olympics venue. The brief confrontation came at the end of a peaceful march by thousands against the environmental impact of the Games and the presence of U.S. agents in Italy.

The skirmish comes days after Meloni's government approved a security decree that allows police to detain people for up to 12 hours when there are reasonable grounds to believe they may act as agitators and disrupt peaceful protests. Opposition lawmakers criticized the measure as an attack on freedom of expression.

Peaceful protest is legitimate, but “we draw a line at violence," International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said during the IOC’s daily media briefing. "That has no place at the Olympic Games.”

Police on Saturday held off the violent demonstrators, who appeared to be trying to reach the Santagiulia Olympic ice hockey rink, after the skirmish. By then, the larger peaceful protest, including families with small children and students, had dispersed.

At the earlier, larger demonstration, which police said numbered 10,000, people carried cardboard cutouts to represent trees felled to build the new bobsled run in Cortina. A group of dancers performed to beating drums. Music blasted from a truck leading the march, one a profanity-laced anthem against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Beforehand, a group of masked protesters had set off smoke bombs and firecrackers on a bridge overlooking a construction site about 800 meters (a half-mile) from the Olympic Village that’s housing around 1,500 athletes.

The demonstration coincided with U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Milan as head of the American delegation. Vance and his family visited Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” closer to the city center, far from the protest, which also was against the deployment of ICE agents to provide security to the U.S. delegation.

U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. The ICE arm at the forefront of the immigration crackdown in the U.S. is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers are being sent to Italy.

The demonstration on Saturday followed another one last week, when hundreds protested the deployment of ICE agents.

Like last week, demonstrators Saturday said they were opposed to ICE agents’ presence, despite official statements that a small number of agents from an investigative arm would be present in U.S. diplomatic territory, and not operational on the streets.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics