Twenty two years ago, on this day, July 21, 2001, sleeping protestors were beaten by police in Genoa, Italy.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 371.7ppm. As of 2023 it is 423ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that the misnamed “anti-globalisation” movement had been mobilising in London and Cologne, in Stockholm, and in Prague. And now everyone was gathered in Genoa for the G7. Italian police had already shot and killed a young Italian man who was – to be fair – attacking a police car with a fire extinguisher. But this attack was not on protesters, was not in the heat of the moment, these police were not then under threat. This was a planned and enjoyed assault with blood halfway out the walls, leaving lots of nonviolent protesters traumatised with medical bills and horror and it should be remembered. But it isn’t. Except by the people who endured it.
What I think we can learn from this
The state will use violence as it did with the Rainbow Warrior. And as it did here, to make people bleed and make people remember.
What happened next
The Italian police eventually went on trial. Nothing came of it. The global movement against corporate control of the planet was stopped in its tracks by the shock of 9-11. It then morphed into a movement against the impending attack on Iraq in 2003. But found it hard to sustain – as you do.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.