Milan Olympic Protests – Photos & Updates

The demonstration was generally peaceful, but clashes broke out at the end, with protesters throwing firecrackers and stones at the police. Law enforcement officers used tear gas to disperse them.

Over 100 police officers were injured during protests in Turin last weekend.

Protesters criticized the use of artificial snow and felling of trees in preparation for the Olympics, and also protested the housing crisis in Milan. The demonstration was organized by trade unions, rights groups and activists.

“The Games are no longer sustainable from an environmental or social point of view, their time is over,” 29-year-old protester Francesca Misana told AFP news agency.

Alberto di Monte, one of the organizers of the demonstration, told AFP that the Games were advertised as sustainable and cost-neutral, but because they are one of the most geographically dispersed games in history, billions of euros were spent on building roads rather than protecting the mountains. Meanwhile, Milan has turned into a “tourist-friendly Disneyland” that hosts a series of big events but neglects its own residents, he added.

“Let’s get the city back, let’s free the mountains!” protestors’ placards read. One of the protesters strongly condemned the cutting down of hundreds of trees to make way for the Olympic bobsleigh track, and the demonstrators carried dozens of trees made of cardboard, which they symbolically laid on the ground.

“Free mountains, less ICE, more glaciers,” read another protester’s poster, criticizing the involvement of ICE agents in US security planning for the Olympics.

It has already been reported that the 25th Winter Olympic Games were opened in four different places in Italy on Friday. Latvia is represented in them with the largest delegation in history – 68 athletes.