Another morning of tension in Bologna, in the Don Bosco park area, on the outskirts of the city, where dozens of environmentalists opposed the cutting of trees for the construction of a new tram line. There were clashes which caused some injuries. The Police Headquarters reports that a couple of officers were hit, while activists say that a girl was injured by a truncheon. This situation is linked to the public order service, which began yesterday, organized by the Bologna Police Headquarters to allow a company appointed by the Municipality to cut down the trees in Viale Aldo Moro. There were also charges against activists. The demonstrators attacked the police, who were carrying out law enforcement in defense of the workers, throwing stones and sticks at them. The police reacted with some lightening charges. There are several bruised policemen and four protesters arrested.
A policeman punched
According to the Police Headquarters, the police attempted dialogue to convince the demonstrators to desist, but without success, as they continued to resist “passively and actively with verbal attacks and insults”. The police explain that some of the demonstrators who had sat at the foot of the trees were lifted and accompanied a short distance away, while larger groups who continued with a hostile attitude were pushed back with light pushes and in some cases with the use of shields, without the use of truncheons. One policeman was hit by a punch, another by a slap. A young protester was also injured after taking a blow to the head.
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The Police Headquarters: “Activists positioned in several points of the park”
“From 6 this morning – writes the Police Headquarters in a note – the service immediately proved problematic due to the presence in the area of approximately 50-60 people, attributable to the Besta protest committee, positioned inside the park in a to hinder the implementation of the planned works. In particular, the demonstrators positioned themselves in several points of the park, preventing the workers from approaching the trees, sitting and lying at the base of them, or tying themselves up and even positioning themselves on top of the branches”. The statement continues: “A protester, an Italian boy, who had positioned himself on a tree, punched an operator of the Mobile Department who was trying to make him come down, which is why he was taken to the local police headquarters offices in order to proceed within the terms of the law; an Italian girl was also accompanied and she slapped a Digos operator”.
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“Trees cut down even though people were clinging to the branches”
The activists, who reported the morning on some Telegram channels, also publishing photos and videos, instead speak of some charges by the police and the use of truncheons: a young woman was apparently injured by a blow to the head and rescued by 118. Some trees – they explained – they would be cut down even though there were people clinging to the branches. Finally, the note from the Police Headquarters explains that, “despite the serious difficulties, the public order service has so far allowed the felling of approximately 8 trees, guaranteeing part of the felling operations scheduled for today”.
