Brazil authorities seek to punish pro-Bolsonaro rioters

Rio De Janeiro: Brazilian authorities were picking up the pieces and investigating on Monday after thousands of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace then trashed the nation’s highest seats of power.

The protesters were seeking military intervention to either restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power or oust the newly inaugurated leftist Luiz In cio Lula da Silva in scenes of chaos and destruction reminiscent of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.

Rioters donning the green and yellow of the national flag on Sunday broke windows, toppled furniture, hurled computers and printers to the ground.

They punctured a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting in five places, overturned the U-shaped table at which Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justice’s office and vandalised an iconic statue outside the court.

The monumental buildings’ interiors were left in states of ruin.

In a news conference late Sunday, Brazil’s minister of institutional relations said the buildings would be inspected for evidence including fingerprints and images to hold people to account, and that the rioters apparently intended to spark similar such actions nationwide.

Justice Minister Fl vio Dino said the acts amounted to terrorism and coup-mongering and that authorities have begun tracking those who paid for the buses that transported protesters to the capital. “They will not succeed in destroying Brazilian democracy. We need to say that fully, with all firmness and conviction,” Dino said.

“We will not accept the path of criminality to carry out political fights in Brazil. A criminal is treated like a criminal.” So far, 300 people have been arrested, the federal district’s civil police said on Twitter.

In the months that followed Bolsonaro’s October 30 electoral defeat, Brazil was on edge leery of any avenue he might pursue to cling to power.

Bolsonaro had been stoking belief among his hardcore supporters that the electronic voting system was prone to fraud though he never presented any evidence. And his lawmaker son Eduardo Bolsonaro held several meetings with former US.

President Donald Trump, Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon and his senior campaign adviser, Jason Miller.

Results from Brazil’s election the closest in over three decades were quickly recognized by politicians across the spectrum, including some Bolsonaro allies, as well as dozens of governments. And Bolsonaro surprised nearly everyone by promptly fading from

view.