Eliel Rosa used to defend that the United States was in danger and that only a return to traditional values could prevent a decadence capable of transforming the country into a place “doomed to destruction”, like his native Brazil.
The religious was one of the people arrested for breaking into the Capitol a year ago, on January 6, 2021. Since the attack on democracy perpetrated by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, the US government has already identified and punished more than 700 people.
Rosa declared to the US Justice that she was born in a small town in Brazil, unnamed, the son of an evangelical pastor. In the 2000s, he moved to Curitiba and went to work for the city hall. In the following decade he emigrated, claiming to be the target of political persecution, and obtained asylum in 2018.
Two years earlier, Rosa and her family had moved to Midland, a town of 140,000 in West Texas, where she had friends who were pastors of a small church. There he founded the ministry Nehemiah220, which he says has as its mission “to motivate and facilitate the reconstruction of American Judeo-Christian identity.”
In the video announcing the creation of the project, in 2017, the Brazilian warns that the US is at risk and “can destroy itself by losing its origin and not waking up”. He says that names like former President Barack Obama, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (both from the Democratic Party), filmmaker Michael Moore and linguist Noam Chomsky “are not the true story of America.”
In the material, he still criticizes Brazil. “I know a country very well. A country without the values of America. Beautiful country, with beautiful people. But a nation born in shame and doomed to destruction”, he says, in English.
The Nehemiah220 project also includes a “school of government”, which seeks to relate Christian teachings to public management. The inaugural class, in 2018, had as its theme “The Christian Citizen and the Biblical Foundations of Civil Government”. In February 2018, Rosa himself taught a class on “A look at the problem of immigration through God’s way”, at a nearby church.
In October 2020, a debate on “Communist Colonization in Postmodernity” took place in a garden with posters of Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. Shortly afterward, the Nehemiah220 page posted a cartoon that said that supporting Islam would mean favoring one’s extinction.
Rosa told officials she went to Washington on January 6, along with her friend Jenny Cudd, to see the Trump rally. The Republican called for an act to reaffirm allegations – for which he had no evidence and which were never proven – that there was fraud in the 2020 elections. In the speech, he urged his supporters “to fight”.
According to the Brazilian’s defense, at the end of the speech he decided to go back to the hotel for something to eat and then joined the crowd heading towards Congress. Arriving there, he and Cudd said they found an open door and entered the building at 2:35 pm. They heard what sounded like a shot (five people died at the time), walked away so that rescue teams could attend to what happened and left the scene after receiving the order to do so, at 2:43 pm.
Rosa reported to the FBI a few days after the break-in, upon learning that participants in the break-in were being wanted. He was arrested and was treated by public defenders. In the process, he said he was sorry but ready to face the consequences.
“I went against one of America’s founding principles: not to give in to passions that originate in the lowest parts of human nature. I have already expressed my deep shame to all our friends and supporters. I am close to losing my family because of this, but I cannot change things,” he said.
“All I can do is give my word that if I’m allowed to stay in this country and fulfill my American dream, I’ll never do something stupid like that again. I love this nation. America is where I want my body to rest when my time has come.”
In addition to creating a crisis in the marriage, the arrest caused friends to distance themselves from the family and supporters to stop donating to his religious project. contacted by leaf via email, Rosa declined to give an interview.
He and his friend were indicted on five counts: obstructing official procedure, entering and staying in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Congressional building, and picketing inside Congress. Rosa pleaded guilty to the latest charge, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison.
He ended up sentenced to 12 months of probation: he must follow a series of rules, but not be detained in a penitentiary. The punishment was considered more lenient than that of many other invaders — the fact that he turned himself in and admitted guilt scored.
The prosecutor in the case, Amanda Fretto, acknowledged the defendant’s regret, but stressed that there were clear signs that Rosa had violently entered Congress, as he saw the scenes of chaos around him and decided to continue anyway, according to a report by the Law website. and Crime.
At the trial, the Brazilian sought to show erudition and quoted James Madison, one of the founding fathers of the USA: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. I am definitely not an angel.”
Another invader of Brazilian origin, Samuel Camargo, was also arrested and indicted for participating in the invasion of the Capitol. His case has not yet been tried, and he awaits sentencing in freedom. Camargo, who claimed to be innocent, was born in Boston to Brazilian parents and was living in Fort Myers, Florida, when he was arrested.
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