Violence is never the answer

I read with dismay the statement by Lorenzo Pacini, PD councillor in Milan's Municipio 1, about Saturday's clashes: «Solidarity with those who suffered the beatings» and «That damage can be repaired».

Faced with images of urban guerrilla warfare, smashed shop windows, destroyed street furniture and injured police officers, there are no «ifs» and no «buts».

Hearing someone say that «that damage can be repaired», or playing down what happened by offering one-sided solidarity to those who provoked the clashes, sends a wrong and dangerous message.

Public property belongs to all citizens, private property deserves to be protected, and the police do essential work every day to guarantee the safety of those who demonstrate peacefully and of those who live in the city. Justifying chaos and devastation with supposed social causes undermines the very value of true democratic and civil dissent.

Violence is never the answer and can have no political, social or ideological justification. Those who devastate the city or attack those who work for everyone's safety must be condemned without hesitation.