Winter Olympics

Protests against the Olympics – chaos on the streets of MilanProt

Henric Holmberg

Published 2026-02-07 23.35

Major protests against the Winter Olympics on the streets of Milan.

Thousands of protesters and police clashed.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets to protest against the Olympics in Milan, the day after the opening ceremony. Riots broke out, several Italian media outlets report.

Corriere della Sera reports that around 5,000 people gathered in the Corvetto district of Milan, a couple of kilometers from the Olympic village. Smoke bombs and fireworks were set off.

Protesters also threw stones and bottles at riot police, who responded with water cannons to disperse the crowds.

Seven protesters have been arrested by police in connection with the protests, Corriere della Sera reports on Saturday evening. No one was reportedly injured during the demonstration.

The actions are condemned: “Criminal”

La Repubblica reports that demonstrators threw fireworks at the police, who in turn used tear gas and water cannons.

Attilio Fontana, president of the affected Lombardy region, condemns the actions of the demonstrators.

“Once again, it is necessary to strongly condemn, without any “ifs” or “buts”, the actions of these criminals. Because we are talking about criminals,” Fontana said, according to La Repubblica.

The protest action was aimed at several different things, including reports before the games that American ICE agents would be present at the Olympics.

Criticism was also directed at the climate aspect of the Olympics, which demonstrators condemn as “unsustainable.”