Far-right national government pushed for the surprise eviction despite ongoing talks with municipality
~ Cristina Sykes ~
Police in Milan, Italy this morning (21 August) evicted the Leoncavallo occupied social centre, one of the most longstanding spaces of the Italian autonomous left. Hundreds of police officers in riot gear participated in the eviction and entire streets were blocked in the surrounding neighbourhood.
The centre—a space for music, art, culture, and political organising and debate—had been located on Via Leoncavallo since 1975, and since 1994 on Via Watteu.
“I am saddened”, said local poet Olmo Losca in a Facebook post, describing the centre as “a place that offered many people different moments of coming-together, always open to migrants and vulnerable people, the unemployed, the families destroyed by poverty”.
Sources close to the centre attribute the eviction to political antagonism on part of Italy’s far-right government—particularly Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, a civil servant allied with the Northern League, and neo-fascist Senate president Ignacio La Russa, a resident of Milan. Prime Minister Georgia Meloni spoke approvingly of the eviction on national media.
Earlier this year, an Italian court ruled that either the social centre or the ministry should pay compensation of 3 million Euro to the owners of the real-estate on which the centre was located. However, activists had been given assurances no action would be taken until 9 September. The early morning, midsummer timing of the eviction is thought to have been chosen due to the expectation of little resistance.
The surprise eviction is said to have blindsided the municipality as well as the activists, with the mayor of Milan having offered an alternative location for the centre—albeit on what activists claim is toxic land.
“The country’s real problems lie elsewhere, but they prefer to target symbolic spaces and fuel the idea of a single-track mindset”, said activist Alex C. “Because it’s not just the closure of a place: it’s the loss of opportunity, of choice, of awareness that something ‘other’ can exist beyond what TV and the system impose”.
Supporters of the centre have called for a public assembly this evening at via Watteu. “We feel pain and rage”, said Marina Boer, spokesperson of the Leoncavallo mothers’ association. “This feeling confirms how good our ideas are. The Leoncavallo can’t end up like this. We will find a way forward, because the city needs cultural spaces. It can’t just be a desert of skyscrapers”.
Photos: milanoinmovimento on Instagram