There is not only the need to put a face to those who were part of the Black Bloc. The Digos (political police) of Turin is working to identify the perpetrators of the violence but also to discover when the attacks on the Turin-Lyon construction sites in Val di Susa, which took place last Saturday, were planned.
As highlighted by the investigating judge of the Turin Tribunal, Giulia Caveglia, in the order imposing pre-trial detention for two Germans arrested after the clashes, the objective of the No Tav movement was to "cause as much damage as possible to the construction sites and law enforcement."
Shedding light on the preparatory phase is therefore essential for investigators, who believe the Black Bloc reached the construction sites via footpaths, guided by activists who knew the territory well and who may not necessarily have participated in the clashes themselves, but instead indicated the area to attack and the escape routes. This orchestration, according to investigators, would be traced back to the Askatasuna social centre, which was evicted last December. The planning would therefore have taken place in the weeks prior to July 25th, during meetings and gatherings between various components of the antagonist and anarchist sphere, with delegations composed of a few representatives from different organisations and cities, including foreign groups.
Supporting this hypothesis is an aspect on which the Digos is conducting further investigations: during their detention, the two German antagonists reportedly told investigators that they had contacts with autonomists from Askatasuna, historically present in Val di Susa and repeatedly involved in assaults on construction sites. In particular, the two arrested individuals are said to have named an activist already known to law enforcement.
The method of planning the conduct of a demonstration weeks, if not months, in advance is nothing new. Even regarding the violence that erupted on January 31st in Turin, on the sidelines of the national demonstration against the eviction of Askatasuna, investigators spoke of pre-established plans and disorder organised by autonomists and anarchists, who in the lead-up to that event would have patched up old grievances and conflicts that had arisen precisely in Val di Susa.
Another issue to be resolved concerns the arsenal used in the assaults: Molotov cocktails, firecrackers and rockets which, according to investigators, would have been brought to the site in advance and hidden. Val di Susa, previously used as a place of concealment for weapons caches belonging to Gladio and Prima Linea, would offer, due to the nature of its terrain, numerous natural hiding places.
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