MILAN — The day after a weekend of street violence in Piazza Duomo, Milan remained on edge. Police officers and Carabinieri were deployed across the city, bracing for another show of force that ultimately failed to materialize.

Reports circulating on social media of alleged vandalism at the University of Milan and IULM University also proved to be false. Officers conducted preventive checks at subway exits near the Cathedral and around the square, amid crowds of tourists, many seemingly unaware of the tension.

After surveying the damage, shopkeepers emerged as some of the most concerned. In Milan’s fashion district, Chanel, Hermès and Pomellato were among the first luxury brands to close early “for the safety of employees and customers,” clearing their windows for fear of a third afternoon of violence.

The government announced the immediate deployment of another 500 military personnel to Milan, a measure expected to be included in a public-order decree scheduled for discussion by the Cabinet on Tuesday. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini hailed the move as “a victory for the League,” his party, and made a brief stop at the Duomo to “thank the police and Carabinieri for what they have done.”

The only flare-up of tension late in the afternoon came on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, where Center-Right groups had organized a rally to condemn the violence. A banner read, “We’ll remigrate you all.”

A group of young people responded with shouts, insults and firecrackers. Some also shoved participants in the rally.

Foreign nationals and young people from immigrant backgrounds, however, accounted for only a portion of the more than 340 people taken to police headquarters over the weekend. Those brought in included teenagers living in residential care facilities, as well as Italian teenagers from Milan and its suburbs.

The 17-year-old stopped by police on Sunday carrying a bottle of peach iced tea filled with gasoline was Italian. After being identified at police headquarters, he was reported to prosecutors for possession of explosive material. Several other Italian teenagers were also among those stopped some carrying pocketknives and small hammers allegedly used to smash shop windows.

Calls to mobilize spread in real time on social media and in private WhatsApp and Telegram groups. In recent hours, several concerned parents had reported these groups to local police stations and Carabinieri barracks. Often organized by neighborhoods or schools, the groups can be difficult for even counterterrorism investigators to monitor.

What happened, and how long the unrest might continue, remain difficult to decipher. The crowds of young people appear to have no clear leader or shared political ideology.

Among those speaking out in defense of the teenagers was rapper Marracash. “Social inequality is my battle. I’ve dedicated my life to rebellion. That’s where I stand,” he wrote in a lengthy social media post. “I’ve been waiting for this reaction for a long time, and I think we’re only at the beginning. You can’t change things by playing nice.”

But the original aims of Saturday’s demonstration had been eclipsed by the events that followed: vandalism, looting and gratuitous violence, filmed and posted in real time on TikTok as if it were a video game.

On Sunday, in particular, anger, a sense of injustice and social distress were hard to discern in the faces of many teenagers who appeared to be having fun as they ran off with cakes from Carrefour and sweatshirts from Foot Locker.

For the first time in Milan, authorities on Sunday invoked the preventive police detention measure introduced under Italy’s Security Decree, applying it to 174 young people out of the 343 taken to police headquarters. The measure was used on the grounds that they might pose a threat to public order. They were released after being identified, without further action. Outside Police Headquarters on Via Fatebenefratelli, concerned and angry parents waited for hours.

Thirty-four of those taken in were minors, ages 14 and older. Many were placed under house arrest pending a court hearing to validate the measure.

The five young men arrested on Saturday, ages 18 to 24, were taken to San Vittore Prison. Six more were arrested on Sunday. The prosecutor’s office, headed by Marcello Viola, accused them of having “demonstrated an absolute disregard for the consequences of sudden acts of destruction and rare violence against members of law enforcement, creating danger to the safety of numerous people.”

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