Italian police deployed tear gas and a water cannon on Saturday after a small group of demonstrators hurled firecrackers and attempted to reach a highway near a Winter Olympics venue a sharp contrast to the thousands who had marched peacefully earlier in the day.
The confrontation erupted at the tail end of a large protest against the environmental impact of the Games and the presence of US security personnel in Italy. While families, students and activists had filled the streets in a calm, carnival‑like demonstration, a fringe group broke away and tried to push toward the Santagiulia Olympic ice hockey rink.
Police blocked their advance, dispersing them after a short clash. By that time, the main march had already dispersed.
Earlier, masked demonstrators set off smoke bombs and firecrackers on a bridge overlooking a construction site roughly 800 metres from the Olympic Village, which houses about 1,500 athletes. Police vans and temporary fencing secured the road to the village, though the protest ultimately veered away and continued toward the Santagiulia venue under heavy police surveillance.
Authorities said there was no disruption to athlete transport or competition schedules.
The demonstration unfolded as US Vice President JD Vance visited Milan as head of the American delegation for the opening ceremony. He and his family toured Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper far from the protest zone.
The march also targeted the deployment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel assigned to assist with security a routine practice for major international events, though organisers stressed that ICE’s controversial Enforcement and Removal Operations unit is not involved.
Police estimated around 10,000 people joined the main demonstration. Protesters carried cardboard cut‑out trees symbolising those felled to build the new bobsled track in Cortina. Drummers, dancers and music trucks led the procession, including one blasting an anti‑ICE anthem.
“Let’s take back the cities and free the mountains,” read a banner from a group calling itself the Unsustainable Olympic Committee. Another collective, the Association of Proletariat Excursionists, organised the symbolic trees.
Protester Guido Maffioli accused organisers of bypassing environmental and infrastructure regulations under the guise of Olympic urgency, warning that taxpayers could ultimately shoulder the financial burden.
Handmade signs denounced “Genocide States,” “Fascist Police,” and “Polluting Sponsors,” the latter aimed at fossil‑fuel companies backing the Games. One woman carried a fake tree labelled “Infernal Olympics.”
The protest followed another demonstration last week opposing the deployment of ICE agents a sign that dissent around the Games is far from fading.
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