She’s the TikTok sensation nobody saw coming. Monica Poli, a middle-age Venetian woman, has racked up millions of views on social media, for videos in which she screams at local thieves, in order to chase them away from tourists. 

Videos taken in her local train station, or crowded square, shows how her screaming sends suspected pickpockets running, turning up their hoods to cover their faces. Her screeches have been turned into viral memes. Even a dance track.

But, lately, some unexpected facts about this homegrown vigilante have emerged. 

Today, Digital Foreign Editor Chris Zappone on why Monica Poli has become a sensation. And if her popularity is tied to a growing, wave of anti-immigration populism that’s sweeping Europe.