Anti-ICE protests erupt in Milan ahead of games

However, the size and intensity of the response to just a tip of their presence reflects ICE’s growing awareness abroad and the extent to which some agents’ actions have fueled anti-American sentiment.

“We know that many people in the world are looking at us today, because we are hosting the Olympic Games. This is not just a sports event, it is important for the whole world,” said Alessandro Capelli, secretary of the Milan branch of the Democratic Party of Italy, the main opposition of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.

“We would like to say that the struggle for human rights all over the world is our struggle. [too]. We are citizens of Milan, we are citizens of the world. “We watch on TV what ICE is doing in the United States, so it’s a pretty normal thing for us to show our solidarity with the people who are fighting.”

Asked how the news of ICE’s deployment was received across Italy’s political spectrum, Capelli said: “It’s an interesting question. Frankly, while the democratic and the left are acting with more courage, [people] say something true [like]for example: ‘We don’t really like the ICE method.’ But we have a problem: Steve Bannon is Giorgia Meloni’s friend and [Italy’s deputy Prime Minister] Matteo Salvini, they need to explain to us how this friendship is going.”

American housewife Jocelyn Frederick, who is originally from Florida but has lived in Italy for almost 20 years, particularly suspected that the announcement that ICE — but not Homeland Security — would be coming was intentional.

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“We’re used to hearing about Homeland Security being involved in major international events,” he said.

“We’re hearing this is happening, especially with counterterrorism, but we think they’re going to use ICE, it seems like a show of force: ‘We’re bringing it.’ ours agents. We show that these are tightly linked. [JD] Vance and management.’ For example, they are coming he. This is what doesn’t really make sense.

“Some people [in Italy] They’ll say, ‘We need ICE here too,’ and there are other people who are openly opposed to that. “The majority of people I talk to are very upset with what’s going on in America in general.”

Down Corso Garibaldi, heading south from the square and leading to the metro station from which most of the protesters emerged, was a bar and gelataria unfortunately named Icebound.

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