Viral TikToker and author Toni Tone said she and her two travel companions were aggressively stopped by three police officers in Milan — two of whom were in plain clothes.
The social media personality recounted the police stop in a mid-August TikTok post, now with over 369,000 views. Toni, born Toni Omotola Adenlé, shared that she’d been walking the Milanese streets that day with her sister and a friend when the bizarre police interaction occurred.
The TikToker claimed one of the plain-clothed men flashed a badge before the authorities started loudly demanding the women’s passports for an impromptu review. Toni said the men told her group the identification check was “perfectly normal.”
The men allegedly photographed the passports and sent them to a WhatsApp group. Amid the incident, the Milan police “called over” a woman who facilitated a dog’s canine sniff search on Toni and her companions.
The TikToker recalled “arguing” with the Milan police before handing over her passport. She said she didn’t understand why the men needed them or what exactly they were checking for. She also highlighted that she was weary of being scammed on the street. The traveler claimed she, in turn, pressed the men for proper identification.
Toni said she witnessed other local police stop a group of men who “looked” North East African. Toward the end of her video, she questioned whether authorities were profiling her. She added that, from her understanding, her group’s passports were sent to other local police officers. It seemed they stopped her and her travel companions to verify their documentation and authorization.
“I just found it so weird — [I] never experienced that before,” she noted. “It made me really uncomfortable. I didn’t see them stopping anyone who wasn’t a person of color. I’ve heard stuff about Milan in the past, but seeing it myself…”
How Did Social Media React To Toni Tone’s Experience With Police In Milan?
Several users commented on similar experiences with the Milan police. “Omg! This happened to me and my friends in Milan in 2022!!! They are so racist in Milan!!” one person wrote.
Another commenter said, “Similar thing happened to me. Was sooo random and uncalled for being asked for my passport and not giving a genuine reason as for why.”
Toni noted that there are “various things” online about whether it’s normal for Milan authorities to apprehend passports on the street and take photos. Online users have shared or reposted similar accounts to Toni’s on X.
AC Milan player Tiémoué Bakayoko was stopped by Italian police at gunpoint.
— AJ+ (@ajplus) July 21, 2022
They say that they mistook him for a suspect in a shooting that happened in the area hours before. pic.twitter.com/UvgxZMo3JT
Racial discrimination pisses me off so much. I'm in a train from Italy to Germany, and at each check, the police comes into the train, ignores everyone but always checks for my passport and my blue card.This time they even went as far as calling the embassy to verify my visa 🤦♂️🤬
— Anthony Alaribe (@tonialaribe) June 26, 2021
And then spend many minutes verifying who knows what, taking pics and making calls. But for everyone else, at most a glance at their id cards is sufficient.
— Anthony Alaribe (@tonialaribe) June 26, 2021
These things eat at the confidence of people of color.And its embarrassing when travelling with friends or colleagues 😕
In May 2024, the United Nations’ organization dedicated to diminishing racial bias, profiling, and abuse toward Black people examined the Italian police. The International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (the Mechanism) allegedly found a lack of “efforts to address racial disparities.” The organization’s exploration of the issue spanned eight days across Rome, Milan, Catania, and Naples. Over that time, it “heard testimonies on racial profiling as a basis for identity checks and stop-and-searches by different law enforcement agencies in Italy.”
