Bologna, July 21, 2026 – Also Azione, through former representatives of the Pd, attacks the choice of mayor Matteo Lepore to convene the demonstration yesterday afternoon in Piazza del Nettuno. A moment of peace and demonstration to demand “truth and justice” for Abderrahim Fakir, who died on Sunday in Pilastro during the intervention of two police officers, but which turned into urban guerrilla warfare, with tear gas, batons and water cannons from the police against about 200 rioters who instead destroyed shop windows in the city, burned two cars and caused damage in various areas of the center.
Senator Lombardo: “A political mistake to convene the square on the wave of emotion”
“What happened last night in Bologna is unacceptable. But it was easily predictable. For this reason Azione had declared that it would not take part in the demonstration convened by the mayor of Bologna – explains Marco Lombardo, former councilor of the Municipality of Bologna during the administration of Virginio Merola, today senator of Azione –. Solidarity with Fakir’s family became the pretext for the anger of the antagonists to be unleashed against the police forces, holding the entire city hostage for hours. It was a political mistake to convene that square on the wave of emotion. Another mistake today is to continue dividing the city between those who side with the police and those who side with the demonstrators.”
Then, an indirect request for resignation, as declared loudly by the center-right. “Whoever has the responsibility to govern a city should admit their mistake and bear the consequences. Bologna needs a strong, plural and united civic community and not those who fuel divisions, hatred and anger”.
MEP Gualmini: “Institutions must not always take sides, root for, they must unite”
Also MEP Elisabetta Gualmini, former regional vice-president with Stefano Bonaccini and who recently left the Pd in February, speaks about what happened in Bologna: “Last night I saw with my own eyes a city ablaze. From 7 PM to 2 AM. Barricades at traffic lights and police vans, tents and umbrellas of bars and shops torn down and burned, bicycles and road signs thrown everywhere like trash, cars set on fire. All this to the cry of ‘Murderers, murderers’, interspersed only with ‘Tout le monde deteste la police’. It was all quite predictable and perhaps could have been avoided”.
Then, she continues: “I reiterate in every way the need to demand clarity and truth about the events that led to the tragic death of Abderrahim Fakir. Whoever is responsible must pay, whoever made a mistake must be punished. Personally, I immediately expressed my closeness to the victim’s family and my dismay at a person asking for help. But the point is another: was it worth dividing the city once again? Effectively mobilizing against the police? Because in this, the demonstration inevitably transformed, despite people having gathered for something else entirely. Can one always govern by pitting one faction against another? The good square against the bad square? The divisions in the city are already many, one should govern for unity, not for perennial alignments. Institutions must not always take sides, root for, they must unite”.
Carlo Calenda’s video on social media: “Italy needs a serious and responsible alternative”
“Dear Meloni and Schlein, if you are unable to condemn the extremism contiguous to your alignments, you cannot authoritatively lead a great country that is going through a season of violence and dangers. Italy needs a serious and responsible alternative”, states the leader of Azione Carlo Calenda.
