On Sunday, January 8 (Brazil time), supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed several government buildings in Brazil, including the Supreme Court, and surrounded the presidential palace. After hours of clashes in the capital Brasilia, the police regained control of the buildings and arrested over 300 people.
Many world leaders have taken to Twitter to condemn the violence that gripped Brazil on Sunday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed concern about the riots in Brazil and extended support to government authorities, underlining that “everyone must respect democratic traditions”.
“Deeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism against the State institutions in Brasilia. Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone. We extend our full support to the Brazilian authorities,” he tweeted, tagging Brazil’s president Lula.
Deeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism against the State institutions in Brasilia. Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone. We extend our full support to the Brazilian authorities. @LulaOficial
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 9, 2023
Among other global leaders, US President Joe Biden and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the “assault”. In a tweet, Biden stressed that the democratic institutions of Brazil have the full support of the United States. “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. I look forward to continuing to work with @LulaOficial.”
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. I look forward to continuing to work with @LulaOficial.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 8, 2023
The responses came hours after hundreds of supporters of Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro broke through police barricades, climbed on roofs, smashed windows, and stormed into Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court on Sunday.
The protestors called for a military intervention to either restore Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro to power or oust Brazil’s newly elected president Lula from the post.
The visuals of thousands of yellow-and-green-clad demonstrators running riot in the capital, following months of tensions after the October 30 election, were extensively shared on numerous social media sites.
Brazil… this is absolutely epic, this is a revolution
— Pelham (@Resist_05) January 8, 2023
RESIST 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/OFZOjAseq9
Violence still ongoing in Brazil tonight. pic.twitter.com/qJNq9JhW1C
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) January 8, 2023
A police car is driving into protesters in Brazil pic.twitter.com/CIvZf72b5t
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) January 8, 2023
Though there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries as a result of the riots, the Bolsonaro supporters did leave a trail of destruction, throwing furniture through smashed windows in the presidential palace, flooding parts of Congress with a sprinkler system, and ransacking ceremonial rooms in the Supreme Court.
The Brazilian Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets in an attempt to repel protesters who ransacked the state buildings and blocked the main access road to Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos international airport.
According to reports, after almost three hours, the police regained control of the damaged public buildings in the capital.
Brasilia, #Brazil: Law enforcement are dropping tear gas from a helicopter to try to disperse large crowds of anti-President Lula demonstrators and rioters. Some of them broke inside the congress and presidential palace buildings. pic.twitter.com/8O0loHdaCN
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 8, 2023
According to Justice Minister Flavio Dino, 200 demonstrators were arrested, whereas Governor Rocha put the figure at 400.
Dino stated that investigators will look into the funding of the hundreds of buses that carried Bolsonaro supporters to Brasilia, as well as Rocha’s failure to plan security.
Supreme Court in Brazil suspends Governor, orders social media platforms to block coup-mongering propaganda
Notably, following the Sunday violence, Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok to block coup-mongering propaganda. The Supreme Court also removed the governor of Brasilia from office for 90 days due to flaws in security in the capital.
Brazil’s incumbent President condemns the ‘barbarism’, accuses Bolsonaro of ‘inciting’ the crowd
Meanwhile, Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who took office on January 1, 2023, has ordered that its capital be “shut down” after thousands of “fanatic fascist” protestors stormed the National Congress building and demanded that the government be ousted.
Describing the protest as ‘barbarism’ the incumbent Brazilian President Lula said, “You must have followed the barbarism in Brasilia today. Those people we call fascists, the most abominable thing in politics, invaded the palace and Congress. We think there was a lack of security.”
“Whoever did this will be found and punished. Democracy guarantees the right to free expression, but it also requires people to respect institutions. There is no precedent in the history of the country what they did today. For that, they must be punished. They took advantage of the silence on Sunday, when we are still setting up the government, to do what they did”, Lula added.
Lula blamed Bolsonaro for inciting his supporters with a campaign of bogus allegations of electoral fraud following the end of his presidency. “And you know that there are several speeches by the former president encouraging this and this is also his responsibility and the parties that supported him,” Lula told reporters.
Brazil President Lula accuses Brasilia Governor of supporting the coup
Lula also claimed the local military police unit reports to Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a former Bolsonaro friend, who did little to halt the violence.
According to reports, the occupation of government buildings had been planned for at least two weeks by Bolsonaro supporters on social media messaging platforms such as Telegram and Twitter, but security forces did nothing to prevent the attack.
Camping in front of the army command’s headquarters, where groups of Bolsonaro supporters had camped out since Lula narrowly won the election in October, was part of the plot.
When demonstrators began to arrive on Brasilia’s esplanade in the early afternoon of Sunday, they were guided by Military Police cars with flashing lights, rather than being contained. Riot police only arrived on the scene two hours after the invasions began.
Jair Bolsonaro refutes ‘baseless’ accusations of ‘inciting’ the crowd
Responding to the attack on the key govt establishments by his supporters, former president Jair Bolsonaro condemned pillaging and invasions of public buildings. Bolsonaro also denied what he called President Lula’s “baseless” accusations that he incited an invasion of the Brazilian capital.
