Authorities are cracking down on a small but committed minority of Bolsonaro supporters who refuse to recognize the election victory of leftist Luis Inacio Lula da Silva
Brazilian police said they carried out raids across the country and arrested at least two people today as part of investigations into an alleged coup attempt during riots by supporters of the far-right outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro who was defeated in the presidential election.
Authorities are cracking down on a small but committed minority of Bolsonaro supporters who refuse to recognize the election victory of leftist Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
Federal police said they had issued 32 search and seizure warrants in eight states under a Supreme Court order. A federal police source said two people were arrested, one in Brasilia and another in Rio de Janeiro.
“The crimes being investigated are those of vandalism, arson, criminal organization, violent overthrow of the rule of law and coup d’état, which carry a maximum cumulative sentence of 34 years in prison,” the federal police said in a statement.
Tensions remain high in the country after the most tense elections in several years.
On December 24, police in Brasilia announced that they had foiled a bomb plot. A Bolsonaro supporter, with ties to a group of dissidents camped outside army headquarters, confessed to building the device to provoke the army’s intervention.
Today’s operation is related to events on December 12, the day Lula’s victory was confirmed, when supporters from the camp attacked federal police headquarters and torched cars and buses in Brasilia after the arrest of an indigenous leader and Bolsonaro supporter. .
Federal police said they worked with state police to investigate the attack and then shared their findings with the Supreme Court. No names were given.
Yesterday, Reuters reported that the December 12 riots were the result of days of rising tension in the camp following the December 6 arrest of Milton Baldin, a Bolsonaro supporter who had called on gun owners across the country to come to Brasilia to demonstrate against the validation of Lula’s electoral victory.
With fears mounting about security risks during Lula’s Jan. 1 inauguration in the capital, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday to ban registered gun owners from bringing firearms into the federal district until Lula takes office of.
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