A Moroccan man died during an arrest in Italy, and the Left and the mainstream media have gone into overdrive, attempting to whip up a new George Floyd. This is the segment of the Left that simply waits for something to happen so it can blow the dog whistle. According to NTB, “several hundred demonstrated”, as though that were evidence in itself. A few hundred people from the Left are always ready to mobilise.
NTB sets the ball up:
Several hundred people gathered for protests in the northern Italian city of Bologna on Sunday after a 42-year-old Moroccan man died on Sunday.
The man, who had lived in Italy for more than 30 years and owned a cleaning company, was handcuffed and held on the ground by two police officers on Sunday after neighbours reported that he was behaving aggressively. Although the man cried out for help, the officers continued to hold him down. He later died.
Here, they obviously place greater trust in their own judgement from afar than in the local police, who “continued to hold him down”. Perhaps he was aggressive?
Then comes the comparison with George Floyd:
The incident, which has been compared to the killing of George Floyd in the United States six years ago, has received extensive media coverage. The entire episode was filmed by a local resident and shows, among other things, two paramedics who are visible in the footage but do not intervene. Many have criticised the police, including members of the left-wing opposition and human rights activists.
“Many have criticised” them, including the Left. Has anyone other than those who, as a matter of principle, criticise everything the police do in relation to immigrants criticised the police, while never defending Italians subjected to immigrant violence?
Finally, another element is introduced: the man may have been ill.
Politicians from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition have defended the police officers, saying they were carrying out their duty.
Investigators hope that a post-mortem examination will clarify the cause of death and whether the man may have had underlying health conditions. The body camera worn by one of the officers involved has also been handed over to the public prosecutor. (NTB)
On X, one learns that the man’s name was Abderrahim Fakir and that he was 43 years old. He is said to have gone berserk and damaged several cars. When the police arrived, it took three men to restrain and handcuff him. Two paramedics stood by watching. There was little they could do.
The centre-left mayor supports the protests.
Organisations advocating migrants’ rights and the far Left have begun organising street demonstrations after a Moroccan migrant died while being held on the ground by police after going berserk, damaging cars and threatening people on the streets of Bologna.
The police officers who arrived used pepper spray on Fakir and held him down on the asphalt in order to handcuff him.
Video footage that has gone viral shows Fakir struggling to breathe and screaming before losing consciousness. Paramedics were unable to revive him.
Hundreds of migrants and far-left activists took to the streets in the Pilastro district on Sunday evening, chanting anti-police slogans and kneeling with raised fists while comparing the incident to George Floyd’s death in 2020.
Italian left-wing groups and Bologna’s centre-left mayor, Matteo Lepore, backed the migrant protest.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government has defended the police officers, saying they were merely carrying out their duty after being called by “desperate residents”.
🇮🇹 Italy faces a potential “George Floyd moment”
Migrant rights organizations and the far-left are starting to organize streets protests after a Moroccan migrant died while being pinned down to the ground by the police after going on rampage, destroying cars and threatening… pic.twitter.com/G1jfFggJM2
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 20, 2026