For four hours, Brazilian democracy was put to the test in its essence. Several thousand Bolsonaristas, supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, have invaded the buildings of power in Brasilia.
In the Plaza de los Tres Poderes, three buildings were attacked: the presidential palace (the Planalto), the Congress and the Supreme Court. So many symbols that embody the executive, legislative and judicial powers.
Several strong images emerged from the assault, after which more than 300 people were arrested, as symbols of the attack on Brazilian democracy. The Attorney General’s Office has requested the immediate opening of investigations to establish “the responsibility of those involved” in the attack.
• A stolen copy of the Constitution
One of the most shared and significant is a video that circulates on social networks. Mounted on a statue, one of the rioters brandishes a black-covered book in front of the crowd: a copy of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution.
Once presented by the Brazilian press as an original copy, it turns out to be a copy. According to the Supreme Court, the book stolen by the rioters is a replica. The original remains safe in the courthouse museum, intact.
• The door of a Supreme Court justice’s office was opened
Carried proudly by the crowd in yellow and green, a disengaged door to the office of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes, remains one of the images of this assault. A real annoyance for Jair Bolsonaro, as he explained The world in 2021, the former Minister of Justice of Michel Temer, is rapporteur of the main investigations against the former Brazilian head of state.
This makes it a target of choice for Bolsonaristas. The judge is regularly attacked at rallies by supporters of Jair Bolsonaro.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has asked the social networks Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to block the accounts of users who spread anti-democratic propaganda.
The Meta Platforms group, owner of Facebook, announced on Monday that it had removed content from its social networks supporting or praising the events in Brazil. “We are actively monitoring the situation and will continue to remove content that violates our policies,” the spokesperson said. Representatives for TikTok, YouTube, Telegram and Elon Musk, which bought Twitter last year, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
• They steal the weapons from the presidential palace
It is another image, another symbol, probably the most disturbing. During his visit to Planalto, the rioters stole weapons from one of the security offices.
This was announced in a video by the Minister of the Social Communication Secretariat, Paulo Pimenta, and Deputy Wadih Damous. “There is a detail that draws attention: the other floors were looted but they knew that the weapons were stored here,” said the deputy, explaining that the rioters had also taken “ammunition” and “documents.”
A press union denounced the attack on five journalists. Among them, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer was beaten and all his equipment was stolen.
Source: BFM TV
