Occupy Rome Oct 15, 2011
It was one of the few violent outbursts as protests took to the streets in over 950 cities in 82 countries globally. As of 7 PM local time in London, police began cracking down on protesters in the UK capital.
Back in Rome, streets were largely deserted by 8 PM, after police used tear gas and violence against demonstrators after a handful of the Italian protesters, disgusted with the current economic situation facing the country, turned toward banks and local shops, destroying a number of shopfronts and wreaking havoc on the city.
Among the grievances facing Italians are high unemployment, political paralysis and 60 billion euros of austerity measures that have raised taxes and the cost of health care.
“We are struggling to find a way to survive,” added the young activist.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would have none of the protests. He said in a statement that those responsible for Saturday’s violence would be punished, calling the rioting “a very worrying sign for civil society … They must be condemned by everyone without reservation.”
Seventy were injured due to the violence, forty of those where police. Some Italians feel that there were people paid to start the violence to make the protesters look bad and justify the attacks on the activists.
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