Police pinned 42-year-old Abderrahim Fakir to the pavement after reports that he was acting violently; video shows him struggling, saying he could not breathe and calling for help before losing consciousness, as Italy opens an investigation and protests spreadA Moroccan migrant died while being restrained by police in Bologna, triggering protests across the Italian city, comparisons to the killing of George Floyd and a fierce political dispute over police conduct, racism and the policies of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.Italian authorities said Monday that they had opened an investigation into the death of 42-year-old Abderrahim Fakir, who lost consciousness after officers pinned him to the pavement and attempted to handcuff him during an arrest in the northeastern Pilastro neighborhood.The restraint and death: Abderrahim Fakir’s final momentsVideo filmed by a local resident shows Fakir lying face down as two police officers hold him on the ground. He can be heard repeatedly calling for help, struggling and appearing to have difficulty breathing before gradually becoming motionless.The officers continue trying to secure his handcuffs as two paramedics stand nearby. One officer eventually taps Fakir on the shoulder in an apparent attempt to determine whether he is still conscious.The footage spread rapidly online, prompting hundreds of people to demonstrate in Bologna on Sunday and Monday. Protesters chanted against the police, raised their fists and knelt in a gesture associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, which gained global prominence after Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.At a protest in central Bologna organized by Mayor Matteo Lepore, demonstrators carried signs reading, among other slogans, “Justice for Fakir” and “Abolish the violence of the state.”Gallery42-year-old Abderrahim Fakir. Violated house arrest and was taken to a detention facilityFakir’s sister, Khadija, took part in the protests and fainted during Monday evening’s rally.“They killed my brother in cold blood. I want justice,” she told reporters. “You cannot die like this. The police are supposed to protect us. If someone is agitated, you calm him down, you do not kill him like a dog.”Police were called shortly after noon following reports that a man was behaving aggressively and damaging vehicles. Officers found Fakir in what some witnesses described as a fit of rage.They initially tried to calm him, according to reports, but later used pepper spray and forced him to the ground when he continued resisting.Fakir, who was born in Morocco, ran a small moving and cleaning business in Bologna.His death quickly drew reactions from across Italy’s political spectrum.Opposition lawmakers demanded accountability, while senior members of Meloni’s governing coalition urged the public not to reach conclusions before investigators had established the full sequence of events.The restraint and paramedics’ response after Fakir stopped movingThe right-wing League party, a member of Meloni’s coalition, called for a thorough investigation but said the officers had been “doing their duty” after responding to calls from distressed residents.League leader Matteo Salvini criticized Bologna’s mayor for organizing a protest against the police, arguing that a mayor’s responsibility in such circumstances was to calm tensions rather than inflame them.Galeazzo Bignami, parliamentary leader of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, also expressed support for the officers.Opposition senator Ilaria Cucchi, whose brother died in police custody in 2009, condemned messages of solidarity and gratitude directed toward the officers involved in Fakir’s arrest.Cucchi accused Meloni and her government of encouraging such conduct through policies she described as being driven by “hatred and racism.”Barbara Spinelli, a lawyer who helped Fakir renew his Italian residency permit last year, described him as kind, educated and respectful.Although he lived and worked legally in Italy and possessed the required documents, she said, he had been deeply afraid of being deported.“I told him, ‘We are in Italy, a democratic country. Here the police follow the rules,’” Spinelli said.Italian media reported that Fakir had a criminal record dating back many years.In the early 2000s, he was involved in a major investigation into organized crime and drug trafficking in Bologna. In 2006, while serving a sentence of four years and three months under house arrest for drug possession and trafficking, he was repeatedly found to have violated the terms of his confinement and was transferred to a detention facility.Bologna police said they would hand over body-camera footage from the officers involved to investigators.Prosecutors said the video circulated online would also be examined but stressed that the full incident lasted longer than the portion shown in the viral recording.The investigation is expected to focus on the officers’ use of force, the medical response and the precise cause of Fakir’s death.