Italian government defends police after Bologna restraint death
The death of a Moroccan-Italian man under police restraint has triggered violent street clashes and exposed deep political fractures over Italy's approach to law enforcement and migration.
A 42-year-old Moroccan-born man died in Bologna on Sunday after being pinned to the ground by police, sparking protests that escalated into clashes with tear gas and water cannon.
Abderrahim Fakir, who had lived in Italy since childhood and ran a small removals business, repeatedly shouted for help as officers held him down. Video footage shows ambulance workers standing by before officers bound his ankles and only later checked his vital signs. Prosecutors have opened an investigation and seized the officers' body camera footage.
Police had been called by residents reporting erratic behaviour. Officers claimed Fakir was having a "psychiatric episode" and deployed pepper spray before restraining him. Fakir's sister, Khadija, told Corriere della Sera: “You can’t die like this. The police have to protect us. If someone is agitated, you have to calm them down … not kill them like a dog.”
The incident has become a flashpoint in Italy's broader political debate over security and migration. Opposition figures have drawn direct parallels to the murder of George Floyd in the United States and the tactics of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Francesco Boccia of the Democratic party warned that importing the "ICE model" would fail because Italy has "democratic antibodies." Senator Ilaria Cucchi, whose brother died in custody in 2009, accused the government of fostering violence through "policies seeped in hatred and racism."
The right-wing coalition of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has closed ranks behind the police. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi criticised those who insult law enforcement, while European Affairs Minister Tommaso Foti labelled the protesters' chants disgraceful. Galeazzo Bignami, head of Meloni's Brothers of Italy in the lower house, praised the officers' "professional conduct," a stance Cucchi called sickening.
Beyond the immediate political fallout, the case highlights the climate of fear among legal migrants who form a crucial part of Italy's small business economy. Barbara Spinelli, a lawyer who assisted Fakir with his residency permit renewal last year, noted he was deeply worried about expulsion despite his legal status. “I told him: ‘We are in Italy, a democratic country. Here the police respect the rules,’” Spinelli told Ansa. “I don’t know how I will ever again manage to tell someone they don’t need to be afraid.”
