Trilateral Friction At Trilateral Commission

Italian anti-capitalists, police and neo-nazis scrap outside globalisation meeting

18th November 2000

An anti-globalisation demonstration in Milan on November 11 led to three hours of rioting, after police, neo-nazi groups and anti-capitalists fought a pitch battle in the streets of the Italian city.

The battles took place outside a Milan hotel hosting a meeting of the Bilderberg born Trilateral Commission (TC). Founded by Sirus Vance, Warren Christopher and David Rockefeller in 1973, the TC is an unofficial globalisation strategy meeting attended by the highest level corporate and political big-wigs from North America, Europe and Japan.

Ironically new-nazi groups from Northern Italy were meeting in a nearby discotheque planning a demonstration against the meeting because they claimed the Trilateral Commission is perpetuating a global Jewish conspiracy. Milan-based anti-capitalist activists from Italy's legendary network of 'social centres' were already planning there own anti-capitalist demonstration outside the hotel when they heard of the neo-nazi meeting and decided to go and deal with them first.

Around 2-3000 social centre activists set off on foot towards Milan's De Sade Discotheque at around 3pm but were quickly blocked by droves of Italian police. After an hour of peaceful stand off the activists decided to circumvent the police blockade by jumping on the subway and travelling to a station nearer to both the discotheque and the hotel. The manoeuvre caught the police lines off guard and they were forced to wade through heavy traffic jams caused by their road closure blockades in order to reach the discotheque. However, another unit of Italian police outside the discotheque managed to prevent activists from gaining entry to the venue where a few hundred fascists from the new-nazi organisation Forza Nuova were now hiding. After the original units of Italian police reached the discotheque scuffles broke out as Italian police - angered by the blockade avoiding manoeuvre - were heavy handed in their attempt to squash the confrontations quickly. Three hours of rioting ensued during which 20 people were taken to hospital and 17 arrested. During the disturbances delegates attending the Trilateral commission meeting were locked into their nearby hotel for their own safety. The social centre activists considered the action to have been generally successful.

According to Giulano, one of the social centre activists: "It was a glorious day against fascism and capitalism which saw social centres citywide for once united. Now our concern must go to the 17 comrades arrested. None of the 20 wounded people taken to the hospitals - comrades and passersby - is in worrying conditions."