Italy unleashes military response to violent riots as France faces a reckoning of its own
Italy is moving to deploy 500 troops with expanded police powers following a weekend of violent riots, taking a more direct military approach to public security than France, where weeks of unrest have prompted authorities to bolster their security response.
Videos of unrest in France and Italy flooded social media on Saturday and Sunday, showing violent clashes between demonstrators and police amid burning buildings and looted storefronts. At multiple points during the chaos, police attempting to contain the violence were forced to retreat.
In Paris, for instance, roughly a dozen officers confronted several hundred demonstrators but were unable to make arrests, using rubber-bullet launchers and grenades to keep advancing rioters at bay as they made a gradual retreat. Italian police in Milan, meanwhile, made a similar retreat as hundreds of young rioters threw explosive firecrackers, metal barriers and glass bottles at them in their attempt to occupy a public square.
Though France is escalating its response now, demonstrations have been ongoing in the country since last month, with many schools being burned and ransacked by rioters.
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Italian police clash with protesters in centre of Milan by the city's historic cathedral. (Reuters)
A Fox News Digital investigation found that socialist groups, Islamic advocacy organizations and environmental activists were involved in the French riots, which financial analysts estimate caused over $1 billion in damages. Videos from the unrest also showed demonstrators waving foreign flags, including Palestinian flags in France and an Albanian flag during the violence in Milan.
Italian media reported that many first and second-generation migrants were among the rioters in Milan.
ITALY-POLITICS-PROTEST-SOCIAL-DEMO A demonstrator kicks back a tear gas canister during clashes with police at an anti-government protest organized by the Italia in Piazza movement, at Piazza Duomo in Milan, on October 17, 2026. Inspired by recent protests in France and Spain, demonstrators are protesting against the rising cost of living, low wages, high rents and public service shortcomings, demanding better living and working conditions. (Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP via Getty Images) (Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Imges)
With another wave of riots planned for this coming weekend and authorities bracing for more violence, France and Italy are turning to their armed forces to reinforce security after days of rioting.
France’s gendarmes, essentially military police officers, assisted in containing last weekend’s riots. The nation’s interior minister announced on Tuesday that the military would be increasing its presence in anticipation of further rioting.
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Trash burns during clashes between protestors and police officers during a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students' grievances, in Paris, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
"We will deploy the Sentinelle force, obviously as a substitute to interior security forces ... mostly to free police and gendarmes in their mission to maintain order," he told France’s legislature.
France has upcoming presidential elections, with some political observers viewing the migrant-heavy riots as an electoral boon for Marine Le Pen, the most popular right-wing candidate.
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced a similar deployment, pledging that 500 troops will be entering Milan. The country’s deputy prime minister explained that the police would be granted police powers, providing some insight into the role they could play in squaring off against rioters.
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