A former congressman ally of the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro fired and threw grenades at police officers, injuring two, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent their arrest, authorities said Sunday.
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Bolsonaro immediately condemned the armed attack and distanced himself from the former legislator, whom he called a “bandit” and He denied accusations that he coordinates his campaign for re-election. The former deputy was interned at dawn this Monday in a common prison.
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The ex-deputy Robert Jefferson He was facing a jail order from the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for failing to comply with the terms of his house arrest, after attacking the magistrate of the highest court Cármen Lúcia on social networks.
But for eight hours he barricaded himself in his house in the city of Levy Gasparian, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and confirmed in a video published on networks that he fired, although allegedly without the intention of injuring the agents.
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The Federal Police indicated that Jefferson offered resistance using “firearms and explosives”, but was finally arrested at night, “after intense negotiation”.
Two police officers “were injured by shrapnel from a grenade thrown” by the former legislator, but received medical attention and They are in good conditionaccording to the PF, which reinforced the police presence at the scene.
The head of state, who had sent his Justice Minister, Anderson Torres, to the scene, repudiated the “armed action” and expressed solidarity with the wounded.
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This is the time of the attack.
🚨 URGENT 👇
🇧🇷 Former Bolsonarist Deputy Roberto Jefferson faces gunshots with the police during the execution of an arrest warrant against him.
Jefferson was investigated for his participation in “digital militias” pic.twitter.com/xcqIkr3pbs
— Antifa Watch (@aquiradiomoscu) October 23, 2022
“Whoever shoots the Federal Police is a bandit,” he said during a television interview on Sunday night, while insisting on having no ties to Jefferson, who in 2020 said the president was his “personal friend.”
Even earlier on social media he denied having photos with the former legislator, but the media showed several images of both since Bolsonaro came to power in 2019.
STF magistrate Alexander de Moraes had ordered the return to prison of
Jefferson alleging various breaches of the terms of his house arrest.
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He had recently attacked the magistrate, calling her a “witch” and a “prostitute”. Bolsonaro repudiated the statements against the jurist but also condemned the STF investigations against Jefferson, which, in his opinion, are being carried out “without any support in the Constitution and without action by the prosecution.”
The armed incident occurs a week before the presidential ballot, which pits Bolsonaro against former leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a favorite in the polls.
But in spite of having been received with bullets and grenades and having two wounded agents, the police had to wait a whole day outside of Jefferson’s house to face the prison of the ex-dep. Police, who did not want to identify themselves, believe that there is influence from Bolsonaro, no case. pic.twitter.com/zYTNV9aVXG
– Belinda Branco (@BelindaBranco8) October 24, 2022
“The offenses against Cármen Lúcia cannot be accepted by anyone who respects democracy. They created a violent part of society. A machine to destroy democratic values. This generates behavior like the one we saw today,” Lula wrote on Twitter, where sympathized with the wounded.
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The campaign has been marked by clashes between Bolsonaro and his allies against decisions of the justice system as well as those of the electoral authority., chaired by Moraes. Also due to deep polarization and cases of political violence.
AFP
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