Brazil: Bolsonaro Supporters Break Security Barriers, Break into Brazilian Congress and Presidential Palace
CNN
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Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro broke security barriers installed by the Armed Forces on Sunday and accessed key buildings for the three branches of the State, including the Congress building, the Supreme Court and the Planalto Presidential Palace, according to images shown on brazilian media.
The footage showed massive crowds in the capital of Brasilia climbing a ramp leading to the Congress building, where they had arrived at the Green Room, located outside the lower house of Congress, interim Senate president Veneziano Vital do told CNN Brazil. beg.
Other media showed Bolsonaro supporters entering the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, where CNN Brazil showed the arrival of riot police and the Brazilian Armed Forces. Inside, protesters used furniture to build barricades to prevent police from entering, CNN Brazil reported.
The floor of the Congress building was flooded after the sprinkler system was activated when protesters tried to set the carpet on fire, according to CNN Brazil.
Additional videos showed protesters inside the building taking gifts received from international delegations and destroying works of art.
infractions They come about a week after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose return to power after a 12-year hiatus comes after he defeated Bolsonaro in a runoff election on October 30.
Bolsonaro’s administration previously said it was cooperating with the transition of powerbut the far-right leader stopped short of explicitly acknowledging his electoral defeat, leaving the country for the United States before Lula’s inauguration.
Bolsonaro supporters have camped out in the capital ever since. Justice Minister Flavio Dino had authorized the Armed Forces to install the barriers and guard the Congress building on Saturday due to the continued presence of Bolsonaro supporters.
Neither house of Congress is currently in session. And while President Lula is not currently in the building, a team assembled for the newly elected president was working inside the palace at the time the protesters entered, CNN Brazil reported. Officials at the Planalto Palace are waiting for the Air Force to evacuate them from the building, according to CNN Brasil.
President Lula on Sunday described the events as “barbaric” and called the Bolsonaro protesters who stormed government buildings “fascists.”
“These people are everything that is abominable in politics, to invade the seat of government, the seat of Congress and the seat of the Supreme Court like true vandals destroying everything in their path,” Lula said.
Lula also said that there was a “lack of security” and said that “all the people who did this will be found and punished.”
The president held the press conference in Araraquara, where he had been inspecting the areas damaged by heavy flooding.
Brazilian officials condemned the actions of the protesters, recalling January 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to prevent the certification of the 2020 election and President Joe’s victory. Biden on former President Donald Trump.
“The National Congress has never denied a voice to those who want to demonstrate peacefully. But it will never lead to agitation, destruction and vandalism”, Arthur Lira, president of the Lower House of Congress. said on Twitter. “Those responsible for promoting and instigating this attack on Brazilian democracy and its main symbols must be identified and punished in accordance with the law.”
The Brazilian Attorney General’s office (MPF) said in a statement that it is investigating all those involved in the violations.
“The Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, monitors and accompanies with concern the acts of vandalism to public buildings that occurred in Brasilia this Sunday (8),” said the MPF.
Aras has also “requested the Federal District Attorney General’s Office (PRDF) to immediately open a criminal investigation procedure aimed at holding those involved accountable.”
Several hours after the rape, the Brazilian Federal District Military Police (PMDF) said in a statement that it had begun to disperse pro-Bolsonaro protesters inside the buildings.
Those identified as participating in “acts of vandalism” are being taken to the police station, according to the PMDF.
About 30 protesters have been arrested, according to CNN Brazil, which aired videos showing buses of arrested protesters.
Dino, who said he was at the Justice Ministry headquarters, condemned the actions of Bolsonaro supporters in a statement on Twitter, saying: “This absurd attempt to impose the will by force will not prevail.”
The Secretary of Security of the Federal District, Anderson Torres, and former Minister of Justice of the Bolsonaro government, also described the scenes as “regrettable” and added that he had ordered “immediate measures to restore order in the center of Brasilia.”
Gleisi Hoffman, president of the Workers’ Party, called the violations “an announced crime against democracy” and “against the will of the polls.”