A remarkable video shows Italian riot police removing their helmets in solidarity with anti-EU demonstrators in Turin who are protesting against the state of the economy, the single currency and fuel prices.

 

The demonstrators are an eclectic amalgamation of Italians, from truckers to students. The origin of the protests stems from the ‘Pitchfork Movement’, which began as a group of Sicilian farmers pushing for government reforms but grew into a nationwide revolt against banks, the Italian tax collection agency Equitalia, the European Union, and the Socialist-backed minority government, which is moving to privatize higher education.

“We farmers are on the streets to say ‘Enough!’ to the state, the government, the unions. We just can’t manage anymore,” Giorgio Bissoli, spokesman for the Azione Rurale protest group in the Veneto region told Canale 5 television, adding, “Our main priority is that they all have to go!”