Italian police fire tear gas as protesters clash near Olympics hockey venue
MILAN -- Italian police fired tear gas and a water cannon at dozens of protesters who threw firecrackers and tried to access a highway near a Winter Olympics venue on Saturday.The brief confrontation came at the end of a peaceful march by thousands against the environmental impact of the Games and the presence of U.S.agents in Italy.
Police held off the violent demonstrators, who appeared to be trying to reach the Santagiulia Olympic ice hockey rink, after the skirmish.By then, the larger peaceful protest, including families with small children and students, had dispersed.
Earlier, a group of masked protesters had set off smoke bombs and firecrackers on a bridge overlooking a construction site about 800 meters (a half-mile) from the Olympic Village that's housing around 1,500 athletes.Police vans behind a temporary metal fence secured the road to the athletes’ village, but the protest veered away, continuing on a trajectory toward the Santagiulia venue.
A heavy police presence guarded the entire route.There was no indication that the protest and resulting road closure interfered with athletes’ transfers to their events, all on the outskirts of Milan.The demonstration coincided with U.S.
Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Milan as head of the American delegation that attended the opening ceremony on Friday.He and his family visited Leonardo da Vinci's “The Last Supper” closer to the city center, far from the protest, which also was against the deployment of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to provide security to the U.S.delegation.
U.S.Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security.
The ICE arm at the forefront of the immigration crackdown in the U.S.is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers are being sent to Italy.Popular ReadsPolice arrest protesters at Minneapol...