After discovering that a young police officer had infiltrated Potere al Popolo (Power to the People) in Naples at the end of May, the party, together with media outlet Fanpage, uncovered four similar cases in Milan, Bologna, and Rome. The officers approached the organization primarily through one of its youth collectives, Cambiare Rotta (Changing Course), between October and November 2024, shortly after graduating from the same police course and just before being assigned to the Central Police Directorate for Crime Prevention, an agency dedicated to investigating terrorism.
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During this period, the officers actively participated in demonstrations against the cost of living crisis, in solidarity with Palestine, and in anti-militarization actions. They often presented themselves as out-of-town students with few connections at local universities. Their involvement went deep: some supported election campaigns for official student bodies. At the same time, other activists noticed inconsistencies – none of the identified officers engaged in activities beyond political work, for example, an unusual pattern in youth organizing.
While the infiltration operations in Naples, Milan, and Bologna lasted about eight months, the effort in Rome was short-lived. Activists there quickly grew suspicious of the officer’s background story and the way he tried to approach the organization.
By late June, all those identified had ceased contact with Potere al Popolo, but one officer was present at a demonstration in Bologna when news of the Naples infiltration broke publicly last month. “The moment there was a public denunciation in that demonstration in Bologna, about the Naples episode, this person disappeared from one day to the next,” said Giuliano Granato of Potere al Popolo. “We haven’t heard from him since.”
A threat to democratic rights and structures
Back in May, the party had denounced the Naples case as a disturbing sign of the government’s authoritarian drift, undermining the democratic character of Italian society and constitutional values. That warning has since prompted several parliamentary parties to demand explanations from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government – none of which have been provided. With these new revelations, alongside confirmed instances of journalists being spied on, concerns are mounting over the administration’s trajectory.
“It shows us the path of repression this government is taking through, and I quote Giorgia Meloni’s own words, ‘regime methods’,” said Anita Palermo of Potere al Popolo Rome. “We appeal to social and democratic forces, associations, and citizens to mobilize so that political activity in this country can take place in a democratic way, without fear of police infiltration.”
During a press conference on June 27, Granato added that the infiltration and surveillance of political parties, humanitarian organizations working with migrants, and journalists were indicative of the government’s own fear. The fact that they are prepared to launch such operations shows that the government is terrified of dissent, he said.
“But dissent is the salt of democracy,” Granato added, insisting that the experience of Potere al Popolo has far broader relevance. “If the state can plant an undercover officer inside a political party, it can do the same to a union or a newsroom.”
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Trade unions and social collectives have condemned the police operations as a clear attack on political and civil rights. Many interpret it as part of the Meloni government’s increasingly repressive stance toward political opposition. This comes at a moment when Potere al Popolo, alongside grassroots unions, is leading a national campaign against war, NATO, and the European Union’s rearmament agenda.
According to the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), the attack on Potere al Popolo and its affiliated groups is emblematic of the broader political climate. “It’s a snapshot of the cultural and political values of a class that has openly aligned itself with war and rearmament,” the union said.
“And in a climate of war, the first targets are those who oppose it clearly and unequivocally, voices that must be preemptively silenced even when they act with full transparency,” the USB warned. “The ‘war system’ and all its economic and social ramifications … allows no dissent because it demands we all silently enlist in its cause. And that cause crushes democracy, packing away our freedoms in the attic.”
