Image: The New York Times, Monday, January 9, 2023
This text was created in Portuguese, and translated using Google Translate.
During the afternoon of January 8, supporters of Jair Bolsonaro marched to the Praça dos Três Poderes, in the federal capital of Brazil, where they invaded the buildings and destroyed the facilities of the Supreme Court, the Presidency of the Republic and the House of Laws.
In an action similar to the Capitol Attack, the action was publicly organized through social networks, especially Telegram, taking dozens of buses to the federal capital.
In scenes reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol, Mr. Bolsonaro's supporters on Sunday laid siege to Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices — the violent culmination of years of conspiracy theories advanced the former president and his allies. They set fires, repurposed barricades as weapons, knocked police officers from horseback and filmed their violent acts as they committed them. By Sunday night, the seat of government had been cleared. The New York Times, Monday, January 9, 2023
The lack of reaction on the part of the police stands out, either due to the lack of personnel in action, or due to the absence of counterintelligence, or due to connivance (police officers were recorded in a foodtruck while the attack was in progress).
Fully documented by the criminals themselves, one of the most dramatic scenes was the attempt to defecate by one of the criminals, which was shared by one of his co-religionists.
Scam terrorist defecates and urinates during invasion of STF. pic.twitter.com/9yYHy7HyLW
— Antonio Tabet (@antoniotabet) January 9, 2023
Militarized police were accused of complicity, having been recorded escorting the group from their camp to the site of the attack.
President Lula decreed intervention in public security, removing the powers of Governor Ibaneis Rocha, and designating an interventor to command the police forces.
The command of the military police is the responsibility of the Governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha, who did not take any action to prevent the attack, nor after the invasion. The Secretary of Security, subordinate to Governor Ibaneis Rocha, is in Florida, and would have met with Jair Bolsonaro, who fled the country while still occupying the presidency of the republic. Due to his omission, the governor was removed from his duties by the Supreme Court.
On the morning of January 9, a caravan of 40 buses to transport vandals arrested after the destruction of public buildings at the headquarters of the Brazilian government.
Image: GloboNews
The numbers are still provisional, and already exceed 1,200 arrests.