In the middle of the night on November 3, a mother in Rome received a call from her 17-year-old son. He told her he had just been stabbed and believed he was dying. Just days earlier, a man was brutally attacked, beaten, and robbed by two North Africans while on his way to work. The next day, a bomb exploded at the entrance of an apartment building in Ostia, a suburb of Rome, on Via della Tortuga, shattering the front door.
The building was where friends were painting a mural for Simone Schiavello, a 19-year-old who died on October 16 after being stabbed three times during a fight. And on October 28, 2025, a 28-year-old Egyptian man was found lying in a pool of blood on Via Prenestina near Villaggio Falcone after being stabbed during a street fight around 6 a.m.
Rome ranks third in Italy’s crime index, following Milan and Florence, with data showing a steady rise in street crime, including robberies, thefts, and violent assaults. In 2024, Rome recorded a total of 270,407 crime reports, equal to 6,401.9 per 100,000 residents. Reports of sexual violence increased by 7.5%, intentional injuries rose by 5.8%, and drug-related crimes were up 3.9% compared to the previous year. According to Numbeo, Rome’s daytime walking safety score is 75 out of 100, while its nighttime safety score drops to 47 out of 100.
Italian influencer Lorenzo Caccialupi, who once appeared in a Charlie Kirk video in the United States speaking out against open borders, has returned to Rome, where he continues producing conservative content. A strong supporter of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, herself an ally of President Donald Trump who has praised Kirk, Caccialupi frequently condemns Europe’s open-border policies and posts near-daily videos from Roman neighborhoods where assaults and street crimes have occurred.
He is right about how the influx of migrants has changed Rome, not only in appearance but also in safety. Walking through the city, one now sees large numbers of migrants from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa: many idle in the streets, some running scams or selling counterfeit goods, while others appear to have no work or purpose at all.
Foreigners make up 31% of Italy’s prison population, largely from Africa and North Africa, and 67.5% of crimes committed by foreigners are attributed to illegal immigrants. Overall, they account for about 30% of all crimes nationwide. Among minors, the problem is even more severe: non-EU youths represent only 1.5% of Italy’s population but are responsible for 65% of muggings, 50% of thefts, 48% of robberies, 47% of sexual assaults, and 40% of physical attacks committed by their age group. Between 2020 and 2021, arrests and charges against minors rose by 14%, with nearly half involving foreigners, mostly second-generation immigrants.
Due to pressure from the European Union and the policies of previous liberal governments, Italy has become overrun with asylum seekers, legal immigrants, and illegal aliens. As of 2024, the country hosts about 5.25 million foreign citizens, roughly 8.9% of the population. More than 55,000 people, including 6,350 unaccompanied minors, arrived by sea in the first ten months of 2024, less than half the number during the same period in 2023. An estimated 600,000 illegal aliens now live in the country.