Italian Priest Says He Won't Repent After Flipping off Masked Milan Rioter as Tourists Shelter Inside

A Milan priest filmed giving the middle finger to a masked youth during a weekend of unrest in the city has said he has nothing to apologise for.

Father Giannicola Maria Simone, 65, said he returned the gesture after a young man passing the church made it first, while people fleeing the disorder sheltered inside.

The clip spread rapidly online, and some viewers questioned whether it was genuine. The priest said he would close the church again if the unrest returns.

Priest Stands Firm Over Middle-Finger Video

Simone is the parish priest of the church of Sant'Alessandro di Zebedia, near Piazza Sant'Alessandro in central Milan, Il Giornale reported. He has worked with young people for much of his life.

Speaking to Corriere della Sera, he said he was inside the church when he saw groups pushing from Via Torino into the side streets towards the square, and ran to shut the doors. As the young people passed, one made an obscene gesture at him.

'I responded with a middle finger of my own,' he said. He insisted the gesture was neither violent nor meant to provoke the crowd further.

Asked whether he regretted it, Simone was blunt. 'Do I regret it? No. I just responded,' he said, according to Breitbart, citing the Corriere interview. Pressed on whether he should repent, he replied: 'No, I don't think we should talk about repentance,' LifeSiteNews reported.

'If I had thrown a punch, then yes, but I have never raised my hands against anyone,' he told the paper. Il Giornale headlined its profile of him with his remark: 'Mica ho tirato un pugno', or 'It's not like I threw a punch'.

Some viewers questioned whether the footage was genuine or generated with AI. Simone told Corriere that the video was real.

Church Offers Refuge From Street Chaos

Before the exchange, the priest had opened the church to those trying to get away from the trouble. 'There were lots of people running from the violent ones, I let them all in,' he said, Stato Quotidiano reported.

Breitbart, citing Corriere, said those sheltering were tourists and passers-by rather than parishioners, and that they stayed until the chaos had passed.

Simone also spoke to some of the youths, who were sitting on the church steps, dressed in black. 'We don't know why we are here. Everyone came, so I came too,' one told him, according to Stato Quotidiano.

He described them as a minority among teenagers in the city but a warning sign. 'They are a minority compared to adolescents, but they are the symptom of a much more widespread unease,' he said. Il Giornale reported that he blamed the problem partly on boredom, a lack of opportunities and excessive smartphone use.

Simone said he would close the church again this weekend if the situation became dangerous, as he had done during the earlier clashes.

TikTok Youth Rally Spirals Into Milan Street Disorder

The clashes took place over the weekend of 17 and 18 October 2026. On Saturday, violence broke out during the 'Italia in Piazza' march against the cost of living, which had been publicised on social media, particularly TikTok, Il Post reported.

While most marchers stayed peaceful, hooded groups smashed shop windows, destroyed tram shelters and looted a Foot Locker on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. Il Post said the violent groups did not appear to belong to any established organisation, student collective or social centre.

The unrest resumed on Sunday afternoon between Piazza Duomo and Via Torino, where a Carrefour supermarket was looted for food and alcohol. Shops including Decathlon, Rinascente and McDonald's were also targeted, and scooters were overturned.

Police used batons, tear gas and water cannon and struggled to contain the unrest on both days, according to Il Post. Tallies of those detained varied as the weekend went on.

By 19 October, 271 people had been taken to Milan police headquarters and identified, including 220 minors, and 32 people had been arrested over Sunday's clashes, 23 of them minors, Il Giorno reported. Fourteen officers were injured.

Worshippers at a service led by Archbishop Mario Delpini in the Duomo were evacuated through an underground passage as the violence began. Milan's mayor, Beppe Sala, said police numbers had been too thin, leading to a row with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.

Damage was estimated at around €500,000 (about £435,000), Sky TG24 reported. The broadcaster said the youths mostly organised on TikTok, with Discord, Telegram and Signal also used, and that many filmed or live-streamed themselves during the attacks.

The mobilisation, promoted under the hashtag #italiainpiazza, appeared to have no visible leaders, and investigators were trying to establish who was behind it, Open reported.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni convened an urgent meeting on public order and promised 'new tools' against those who 'sow chaos', according to Sky TG24.

Sala said the city was not prepared and feared the weekend was a first test of violence. Piantedosi responded by calling Sala's remarks typical of a 'radical chic' left, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Simone's parish now waits to see whether the youths return to the centre this weekend.