Italian police conducted raids, including house searches, Monday against suspected leftist extremists following a weekend that saw some of the worst violence to hit Rome in years.

Interior Ministry Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano told local media that police targeted far-left suspects in an ongoing operation in cities across the country, the Associated Press reports.

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Police reportedly raided homes and youth centers in Florence, Palermo and Ancona.

The riots began Saturday when Italians took to the streets to join the global campaign against corporate greed and economic inequality inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York. Protests took place in cities across the world Saturday.

The protests turned violent Saturday when several hundred protesters started setting cars on fire, breaking store windows, smashing bank ATMs and store windows and torching police vehicles in Rome. Italian police responded by firing teargas and using water cannons to break up demonstrators.

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On Thursday, protesters stormed into Goldman Sachs' Milan office. They were quickly dispersed but left behind graffiti denouncing Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and saying "Give us money."

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