Police in Brasilia packed nearly 2,000 people into a police academy gymnasium this week – all detained under suspicion of having participated in a thousands-strong riot destroying parts of the headquarters of the three branches of government – and were then forced to free hundreds on humanitarian grounds.
A crowd the government of radical socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva estimates that about 5,000 people attacked the heart of Brasilia on Sunday, destroying the facades of the headquarters of the top court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), and the Brazilian Congress. They also invaded and damaged the Planalto Palace, the presidential offices. Reports following the riot described “irreparable” losses to priceless artwork and historical artifacts housed in the infiltrated chambers.
The protesters convened in the capital on Sunday to protest the inauguration of Lula into the presidency. Lula narrowly defeated conservative predecessor Jair Bolsonaro in October’s presidential election, but opponents argue he should never have been allowed on the ballot, as multiple courts convicted him of acts of corruption during his prior presidential terms. The STF overturned his conviction, arguing the original court that tried the case did not have jurisdiction to do so but never presented any evidence exonerating Lula. The STF’s electoral offshoot court, the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), also heavily censored references to Lula’s criminal convictions in mass media, arousing the ire of Bolsonaro’s supporters.
The STF suffered the worst damage of the three buildings attacked, losing multiple historic busts of former top judges, suffering total damage to its trial chamber, and enduring particularly severe vandalism of the office of top Judge Alexandre de Moraes.
Protesters insist that the STF’s intervention in the election and the Brazilian military’s statement that it could not verify the integrity of the election in November are evidence enough for a military intervention to oust Lula. Opponents of the protesters call their demands a coup and a threat to democracy. Bolsonaro himself, currently on a visit to Florida, condemned the riot but shared a video on his official Facebook page following the riot in which someone called Lula illegitimate. He has since deleted the video.
Police reportedly arrested about 300 people for direct involvement in the riot. Authorities also targeted a protest camp outside of the headquarters of the military in Brasilia and detained approximately 1,200 people in the vicinity on Monday and Tuesday, bussing them to a police gymnasium for questioning. The operation reportedly required about 50 buses to complete.
By Wednesday, authorities announced that 684 people detained in the facilities were liberated on humanitarian grounds. Those freed were reportedly homeless people, the elderly, people with significant health problems, and women with small children, according to the Brazilian news network Jovem Pan.
Those who were detained for questioning but not arrested were allowed to keep their mobile phones on them while in police custody. Many recorded videos that began circulating on social media on Tuesday showing uncomfortable conditions and highlighting old women and apparent children complaining of their detention, arguing no evidence suggested they played any role in the riot. Some detainees complained of a lack of food and water at the facility. Rumors online claim a woman died in the facility, based on a video from the facility showing a woman on a cot, though other reports suggest she fainted. Federal Police authorities denied that anyone has died in the facility this week.
The videos, whose authenticity Breitbart News could not independently verify, received the attention of pro-Bolsonaro politicians on social media, including son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman:
Esta seria uma terrorista? https://t.co/tXTs2aacrU
— Eduardo Bolsonaro 22.22🇷 (@BolsonaroSP) January 10, 2023
Niños, viejitos, jóvenes y adultos fueron detenidos y colocadas en un campo de concentración en #Brasil.
En total son casi 1500 personas detenidas en Brasília por oponerse a Lula.
Una anciana murió hoy en este lugar. pic.twitter.com/a7eIjG7sBR
— Eduardo Bittar 🇻 (@Eduardo_Bittar) January 10, 2023
🇷 | Detenidos en Brasil están presuntamente sin comida ni agua amontonados en un gimnasio de la Academia de Policía Federal:pic.twitter.com/MLjM4EL6SQ
— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) January 9, 2023
The Spanish newspaper La Gaceta reported on Tuesday that a group of conservative lawmakers has called for the creation of an investigative committee to oversee the police’s actions in response to the riot. Minas Gerais Congressman Marcelo Álvaro Antônio, a former Bolsonaro cabinet official, formally introduced a request to create the commission.
The National Lawyering Institute, an organization representing Brazil’s attorneys, issued a statement on Tuesday denouncing what it called a “legal atrocity” in the mass detentions following the unarmed riot.
“We believe it is more important to draw attention to the blatant violation of human rights during this [mass] arrest,” the statement read, “considering the emergence of news that the arrested protesters are without food, water and an adequate environment to sleep, having all of them crammed into one of the police buildings.”
“Worse, inexplicably, even children were criminally detained, a fact that will generate an unprecedented trauma in the lives of these young people,” the statement continued.
The pressure from lawmakers and legal advocacy groups preceded the release of hundreds of those detained, but more than 1,000 remain in police custody as a result of the post-riot roundup at press time.
The Brazilian newspaper of record, O Globo, reported on Thursday that authorities have broken down their response to the riot into four main priorities: finding those who were present and participated in the riot, finding anyone who provided them funding, identifying any law enforcement officials who failed to act sufficiently to stop the riot, and finding “possible political connections” between the rioters and public officials.
The latter priority may result in the targeting of Jair Bolsonaro himself. Legal experts speaking to multiple Brazilian media outlets have suggested Bolsonaro could face lawsuits or criminal action because many of the rioters are his supporters. An expert speaking to O Globo said the former president’s supporters fear he could become “easy prey” for legal action if his public approval ratings plummet.
Lula’s attorney general’s office is also investigating lawmakers and other public officials who have publicly questioned the 2022 election or Lula’s eligibility to run for office, O Globo added on Thursday.
Human Rights Watch, an organization that identifies itself as monitoring government abuses around the world, issued a statement regarding the Brasilia riot on Thursday, omitting any criticism of police mass arrests and, instead, encouraging Lula to adopt environmentalist policies and fight gender inequality. The organization’s Brazil director, Maria Laura Canineu, emphasized support for increased action against alleged rioters: “In response, the authorities should strengthen the democratic system and defend the rule of law by holding to account all those responsible for carrying out or enabling the violence.”
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