Bologna, July 25, 2026 – “It came from the heart. I went down to the street and tried to stop them.” In the end, “I didn’t succeed, but I hope I sent a message.” That of not practicing violence and of loving the city that grows and welcomes. A message that even Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni appreciated: “She had the courage to interpose herself between those who sowed violence and the police, in an attempt to make common sense prevail. Well done, Francesca.”
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Born in Bologna, the 63-year-old woman who tried to stop the troublemakers who fueled the guerrilla warfare against the police during the demonstration for Fakir and the historic center has become a symbol for the entire city. Some know her, others only by reflection for having seen her while, in vain, she tried to block the violence perpetrated by the very young who were throwing electric bicycles against the Mobile Unit in Via Venezian and destroying the windows of nearby shops.
Madam, why did you go to the square? “I did it for my Bologna. I was at home, in the first outskirts, and I watched those terrible images from there. And I couldn’t take it anymore.”
And what did you do? “I located the point of the clashes, I took the car and I arrived there.”
What did you think when you saw the unrest with your own eyes? “I was ashamed.”
For what, exactly? “For the boys, they were all very young. I wondered where their parents were and I tried to talk to them, to stop them. Enough with this violence.”
Did you succeed? “I only spoke with three of them, but while I was doing that, the others, who were in hundreds, continued to throw bicycles, smash windows. They didn’t stop.”
What did you say to the three young people who spoke to you? “To stop using violence. Now all demonstrations are like this. We don’t deserve it, Bologna doesn’t deserve it: it was a beautiful city and every time it’s reduced to this. In the end, the citizens have nothing to do with all this anger.”
Do you think you succeeded? “No, because they continued. But I hope I threw a small pebble. Those three spoke to me and told me they couldn’t stop the others. I don’t feel like a hero, I just hope I sent a message.”
Which one? “I love Bologna: if I can do something, even go to community centers to talk to the young people and tell them that we all must behave civilly, I would do it.”
Were you scared? “Never. When they saw me arrive, everyone was speechless, all taken aback, both the police and the demonstrators. The three boys I spoke with were kind, I can’t say otherwise, in fact.”
Meaning? “At one point, the police launched tear gas to disperse them: the boys took me by the arm and moved me, to shelter me. When I saw that the situation was deteriorating, I left.”
