Second night of protests in Bologna after Moroccan man dies during arrest

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Bologna on Monday for a second consecutive night of protests following the death of 42-year-old Moroccan-born entrepreneur Abderrahim Fakir while being restrained by Italian police during an attempted arrest.

The demonstrations turned violent after some protesters threw firecrackers near police buildings, prompting officers to respond with tear gas and water cannon. Another group staged a sit-in in a city square, holding Fakir's photograph as a nonviolent protest.

According to Italian media, police were called after reports of a man behaving aggressively and damaging a vehicle in the city's Pilastro neighborhood, where temperatures exceeded 35°C. Officers reportedly tried to calm Fakir before using pepper spray and pinning him to the ground while attempting to handcuff him after he allegedly reacted aggressively.

Footage of the incident, widely shared on social media, shows Fakir lying face down as two officers restrain him. He can be heard repeatedly crying out, «Help, help, that's enough», and struggling to breathe before falling silent. Police later bound his ankles before checking his vital signs.

The case has drawn comparisons with the 2020 killing of George Floyd in the United States, with some demonstrators kneeling and raising their fists in a Black Lives Matter gesture. While members of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government defended the officers, European Affairs Minister Tommaso Foti condemned protesters' chants of «Police murderers» and «The whole world hates you» as «disgraceful». Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he had «full confidence» the investigation would establish the facts.

Meanwhile, Fakir's family has demanded justice. «They killed my brother in cold blood. I want justice,» his sister Khadija told reporters.

Bologna prosecutors have opened an investigation into the incident, while local police said they would hand over body-camera footage from the officers involved to investigators.