A week after left-wing politician Lula took office, hatred of the new government broke out. Thousands of supporters of right-wing ex-President Bolsonaro storm Congress and the seat of government. The action is reminiscent of the incidents in Washington two years ago.
After the storm by radical supporters of Brazilian ex-president Jair Bolsonaro on the government district in Brasília, around 1,200 supporters of the former right-wing head of state have been arrested for the time being. Security forces cleared a camp of Bolsonaro supporters in front of the armed forces’ headquarters in the Brazilian capital on Monday and temporarily detained the activists, as reported by the “G1” news portal. The people were taken away in around 40 buses. The storming of the government district caused international outrage.
Radical Bolsonaro supporters stormed the government district in the Brazilian capital on Sunday. They briefly brought the control centers of the country’s most important state powers under their control. They invaded Congress, the Supreme Court and the Palácio do Planalto, rioting in offices and boardrooms, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. The police seemed completely taken by surprise. It took hours for the security forces to bring the situation back under control.
The governor of the federal district around the capital was temporarily relieved of his office on Monday. The Supreme Court ordered Ibaneis Rocha to be suspended for an initial 90 days. According to the “G1” portal, the order should also be a warning to governors of other states not to remain inactive towards radical Bolsonaro supporters. Brasília’s security chief and former justice minister under Bolsonaro, Anderson Torres, had previously been fired. Head of state Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has been in office for about a week, placed public security in the capital under federal supervision by decree.
Especially at the beginning of the riots, the police did not cut a good figure. For days, numerous Bolsonaro supporters have been camping in front of the armed forces’ headquarters. When around 4,000 other supporters of the ex-president arrived in buses in the capital on Saturday and Sunday and moved to the government district, they were even escorted by officials. Police officers took selfies with the demonstrators and filmed cellphone videos, as seen on television.
Brazil’s President Lula strongly condemned the attack by Bolsonaro supporters. The left-wing head of state, who was in the southeastern city of Araraquara on Sunday, spoke of an attack by “fascist vandals”. Lula signed a decree giving federal authorities special powers to restore security in Brasília. The police initially seemed completely overwhelmed by the attacks by Bolsonaro supporters. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva put the security forces in the capital under the command of the federal government to bring security back under control in Brasília.
US tech company Meta said it would remove comments on social media supporting Sunday’s attack. “We consider this a violent event and will delete content that supports or praises this action,” a meta spokesman confirmed to dpa.
