A group of supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tried to invade the headquarters of the Federal Police in Brasilia on Monday night, a few hours after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was ratified by the electoral justice as president-elect in a protocol ceremony. A few dozen vandals, according to images released by the local press, tried to force their way into the police headquarters in the capital, but were repressed with tear gas canisters and rubber bullets by the security forces. The Bolsonaristas reacted by throwing sticks and stones in the direction of the agents. At the moment there is no definitive information on the number of injured or detainees in the incidents.
The followers of the extreme right also set fire to at least five buses and dozens of cars in the vicinity of the police headquarters, forcing the deployment of a strong police force by the Federal District government. Part of the demonstrators belonged to the camp that has been operating for more than a month in front of the Armed Forces headquarters to request a military intervention to prevent Lula from returning to power.
The trigger for the protests was the arrest of the indigenous Acácio Serere Xavante, a well-known supporter of Bolsonaro in the capital who has long participated in the coup rallies. The temporary arrest of the indigenous person was given at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office and by order of Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is leading the investigations into the extreme right’s attacks on the democratic order. The Prosecutor’s Office affirmed that the cacique incites his followers to commit crimes, and that there is a “clear objective of instigating the population to try, with the use of violence or serious threats, to abolish the Democratic State of Law, preventing the takeover of of the president”.
The riots in the capital, which began to be controlled late at night, raised fears for the safety of Lula, who was staying at a hotel near the area where the incidents occurred. About 60 Military Police officers positioned themselves in front of the entrance, creating a security cordon. The future Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, wanted to send a message of calm and deny the hoaxes that are already beginning to spread in Bolsonaro circles about the physical integrity of the leftist leader. “At no time was he exposed to any risk; [Lula] He is in absolute security and will continue to be so until he takes office and until the full exercise of his functions,” he said in an impromptu statement to the media. He also assured that the incidents will not function as coercion and that the State will continue to hold accountable those who attempt against democracy.
The incidents once again put the focus on the security measures of Lula’s inauguration on New Year’s Day. Despite the fact that security in Brasilia had theoretically been strengthened this Monday due to the ceremony of diploma of Lula, the Secretary of Security of the Federal District, Júlio Danilo Souza, refused to admit failures. Bolsonaro, who remains president until Lula takes the reins of the country on January 1, did not comment on the violent acts perpetrated by his followers.
Follow all the international information on Facebook Y Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe
#Radical #Bolsonarists #invade #headquarters #Federal #Police #Brasilia