Police Attack On Trans Woman Sparks Criticism Against Italian Government

Warning: This article discusses content that may be disturbing to some readers.

Many have called Italy’s growing anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments into concern following the circulation of a video featuring a trans woman being savagely beaten by police officers in Milan.

The now-viral footage records a trio of officers continuously attacking the woman, hitting her with batons, kicks, and pepper spray while she sits on the ground without resisting

Media across Italy report that the incident began when the trans woman started exhibiting odd behaviour in front of a school, with parents alerting the police.

“3 Italian police brutally assaulted, pepper sprayed and kicked an unarmed trans-woman in Milan,” describes Italian-Israeli Journalist Rula Jabreal, who helped circulate the video.

3 Italian police brutally assaulted, pepper sprayed and kicked an unarmed trans-woman in Milan.
Criminalizing & inciting violence against “transgenderism” has lethal consequences… the so called “gender ideology” is used to justify Gov’t discrimination.pic.twitter.com/9H7M4aLqKo

— Rula Jebreal (@rulajebreal) May 24, 2023

She points to the encouragement of the Italian government, highlighting a recent move to the right and the growing normalisation of transphobia and homophobia that sprung from it.

“This kind of violence is neither legal nor moral. Italy’s far-right government propaganda targets and criminalises trans & LGBTQ. Hate and violence are main consequences,” she said.

Government Responsibility

Indeed, following the election of far-right politician Giorgia Meloni and her party to power last year, hostilities against queer people across the nation have only grown.

Emphasising her status as a “woman, mother, and Christian,” Meloni has repeatedly clashed with what she describes as the “LGBT lobby” – holding beliefs such as “gender” being “rooted in the body” and an “incontrovertible fact”, as well as saying “real family” is made up of only a man and a woman.

In the wake of the incident in Milan, calls for Meloni’s government to acknowledge its role has increased.

Italian senator Illaria Cucchi called on the prime minister to cease her “oppression of the most vulnerable categories,” and reign in police who would perpetuate violence against them.

“The images of Milan tell us of an intolerable violence against a person who was helpless at that moment,” she said in an interview with fanpage.it.

Dispelling Misinformation

Removed from Italy, a greater campaign of misinformation has spawned around the shocking video and spread online.

As shown by Twitter’s ‘Community Notes’ on Jabreal’s tweet above, there is a prevailing belief that the trans woman had committed lewd and indecent actions in the presence of children prior to being assaulted by police.

This is false, where according to a report from Italian publication L’Espresso, it was a review that came from the local police union reconstructing what occurred.

“Now there is a certainty,” the publication states.

“It comes from the Milan prosecutor’s office which has denied the union’s reconstructions. The Police intervened, according to the prosecutors, due to a report of noises by the [transgender] woman, but not for obscene acts in front of the children of an elementary school.”

As violence against trans people grows across the world, it is important to remain vigilant and understand where it takes root.