A man died in the northern Italian city of Bologna after officers pinned him to the ground while attempting to place him under arrest, an incident caught on camera that has ignited street protests and launched a criminal investigation.
The victim, Abderrahim Fakir, was a Moroccan-born entrepreneur who operated a small removals and cleaning business. He died on Sunday after police were called to the scene to address reports of a man behaving aggressively and damaging a vehicle, according to Italian media.
Video of the incident, recorded by a nearby resident and widely circulated on social media, drew hundreds of protesters into the streets and prompted reactions from politicians across Italy’s political spectrum. Opposition figures called for accountability, while members of the ruling coalition defended the officers involved.
According to the local newspaper Il Resto del Carlino, protesters chanted anti-police slogans and knelt with raised fists — a gesture tied to the Black Lives Matter movement that gained prominence in the United States following the 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The footage shows Fakir lying face down on the ground as two officers hold him in place. In the video, he can be heard repeatedly crying out for help and struggling to breathe before his movements gradually cease.
Bologna prosecutors and Italy’s Interior Ministry had not responded to requests for comment as of the time of reporting. Bologna police stated they would hand over body camera footage from the responding officers to investigators.
Media reports indicate that officers called for emergency medical assistance after arriving in the northeastern neighborhood of Pilastro shortly after noon, when temperatures had climbed above 35 degrees Celsius, or 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Reports say police attempted to calm Fakir before deploying pepper spray and restraining him on the ground while trying to handcuff him, after he responded aggressively.
Fakir’s sister, Khadija, spoke to reporters as hundreds of people gathered in Pilastro on Sunday. “They killed my brother in cold blood, I want justice,” she said.
A second demonstration was scheduled for central Bologna on Monday, with support from centre-left Mayor Matteo Lepore, the Cgil trade union, and several left-leaning organizations.
The right-wing League party, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition, called for a thorough investigation but maintained that the officers were “doing their duty” when they responded “at the request of exasperated citizens.”
