Brazilian authorities have started investigations on Monday, January 9, 2023 after thousands of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and Presidential palace.
In acts of chaos and destruction evocative of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the protesters were seeking military intervention to either restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power or oust the newly inaugurated leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Rioters who were clad in green and yellow of the national flag on Sunday, January 8, 2023 broke windows, vandalized furniture, computers and printers.
They perforated a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting in five places, overturned the U-shaped table at which Supreme Court justices assemble, ripped a door off one justice’s office and wrecked an iconic statue outside the court.
In a news conference late Sunday, Brazil’s Minister of Institutional Relations disclosed that the buildings would be inspected for evidence including fingerprints and images to hold people to account, and that the rioters apparently intended to spark similar such actions nationwide.
Justice Minister Flávio Dino remarked that the acts amounted to terrorism and coup-mongering and that authorities have started tracking those who paid for the buses that transported protesters to the capital.
“They will not succeed in destroying Brazilian democracy. We need to say that fully, with all firmness and conviction. We will not accept the path of criminality to carry out political fights in Brazil. A criminal is treated like a criminal.”
Justice Minister Flávio Dino
Bolsonaro has refused to accept that he lost October’s election. Bolsonaro made claims that the electronic voting system was prone to fraud though he never presented any evidence.
Instead of partaking in the inaugural ceremonies, where he would hand over the iconic presidential sash, Bolsonaro left the country last week.
Brazilians have used electronic voting since 1996. Domestic authorities and international observers have never found evidence of it being exploited to commit fraud. However, Bolsonaro’s supporters refused to accept the results.
U.S. President Joe Biden tweeted that the riots were an “assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil,” and that he looked forward to continue working with Lula.
“I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.”
President Joe Biden
No Precedent In The History Of Our Country
Speaking before he arrived in Brasilia, Lula stated that there was “no precedent in the history of our country” for the scenes seen in Brasilia and called the violence the “acts of vandals and fascists”.
Lula accused the security forces of “incompetence, bad faith or malice” for failing to stop demonstrators accessing Congress.
“You will see in the images that they [police officers] are guiding people on the walk to Praca dos Tres Powers. We are going to find out who the financiers of these vandals who went to Brasilia are and they will all pay with the force of law.”
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Lula toured the Supreme Court building when he arrived in the city, to see the damage for himself.
The Governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, has been suspended for 90 days by the Supreme Court. Justice Alexandre de Moraes accused him of failing to prevent the riot and of being “painfully silent” in the face of the attack.
Also, Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ordered the military to dismantle all Bolsonaro supporters’ camps across the country within 24 hours and told police to arrest any protesters still on the streets.
According to Brazilian authorities, at least 400 people have been arrested following the unrest.
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