ROME - There has been a reported increase in the number of raids by “Naziskins” in Northern Italy. Depending on political allegiances, this rise has been attributed to the leniency of the ruling centre-left Democratic Party’s migration policy and explained as stemming from a rise of intolerance in Italy. The two explanations are entwined and the debate has been brought to a head in the reactions of the most recent “skinhead” raid this week.

Volunteers for pro-migrant Como Without Borders group were interrupted in their meeting on Tuesday by around 15 neo-Nazi “skinheads.” The men entered the group’s headquarters and forced the volunteers to listen to their anti-immigration message which announced that Italy was undergoing a migrant “invasion.”

The incident was filmed by one of the volunteers and shows the men, dressed in matching bomber jackets, speaking their piece and then being bidden goodnight. The “Naziskin” delivering the speech can be heard announcing the purpose of the raid as to “remind you that the real people love and do not destroy themselves. Stop the invasion.” He ends his monologue with a quiet statement of “now you can go back to discussing how to ruin our country.”

Raids of this kind are reportedly increasing and are an intimidation tactic used to scare pro-migrant groups away from their work. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has denounced such raids as needing to be “rejected not only by the left but all the national political community,” and has also suggested that this incident was indeed an act of violence.

The Communist Refoundation party is also quoted in ANSA as saying that they have perceived the increasing number of these raids for some time. They have called it “a very dangerous Fascist drift … which is unfortunately very often underestimated by the institutions.” The insistence on police and communities not doing enough to combat threats is, interestingly, also championed by the right-wing Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni. In a radio broadcast, she called it “ridiculous” to say that the “Naziheads” are violent, and instead named the socialist groups as more likely to create destruction. She describes these incidents are unreported to authorities. Thus, both sides of the political strata in Italy are using these raids to complain about the unrestricted behaviour of Italian political groups.

The leader of the Northern League party, Matteo Salvini, has responded to this wave of anger by suggesting that the policies themselves of the government delay peace.

As reported in la Repubblica, he described the raid as “not the way to solve the problem of immigration that so far has been tackled with the wrong policies.” Instead, he has promoted a rally intended for Dec. 2 and 3 in Italy against the Citizenship Act, where a thousand piazzas are expected to be filled by protesters.