Brazilian police deployed at a camp of supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on Brazil’s state institutions since the country’s return to democracy in the 1980s.
Hundreds of police in riot gear and some on horseback amassed at the encampment near Brasilia’s army headquarters, while soldiers in the area withdrew, Reuters witnesses said, the day after thousands of Bolsonaro’s backers stormed congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s leftist rival who took office on Jan. 1 after a narrow October election win, promised to bring those responsible for the violence to justice, after demonstrators broke windows and furniture, destroyed artwork and stole guns and artifacts.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the governor of Brasilia removed from office late on Sunday for 90 days over alleged security failings. He also ordered social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to block accounts of users spreading anti-democratic propaganda.
Facebook parent Meta said on Monday it was removing content supporting or praising the weekend ransacking of Brazilian government buildings.
“In advance of the election, we designated Brazil as a temporary high-risk location and have been removing content calling for people to take up arms or forcibly invade congress, the presidential palace and other federal buildings,” a Meta spokesperson said.
“We are also designating this as a violating event, which means we will remove content that supports or praises these actions,” the spokesperson went on. “We are actively following the situation and will continue removing content that violates our policies.”
Telegram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Governor’s role questioned
The assault raised questions among allies of Lula, as he is familiarly known, about how security forces in the capital were so unprepared and easily overwhelmed by rioters who had discussed plans on social media for days about gathering for weekend demonstrations.
The occupation of the government buildings had been planned for at least two weeks by Bolsonaro’s supporters in groups on social media messaging platforms such as Telegram and Twitter, yet there was no move by security forces to prevent the attack, called by one group “the seizure of power by the people.”
Messages seen by Reuters throughout the week showed members of such groups organizing meeting points in several cities around the country, from where chartered buses would leave for Brasilia, with the intention to occupy public buildings.
The plan included camping in front of Brasilia’s army command headquarters, where demonstrators have been since October.
Lula, a former union organizer who was also president from 2003 to 2010, said the local militarized police force that reports to Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a former Bolsonaro ally, did nothing to stop the protesters advancing.
Lula decreed federal intervention of public security in the capital and promised exemplary punishment for the leaders of the “fascist” assault that was aimed at provoking a military coup that could restore Bolsonaro to power.
“All the people who did this will be found and punished,” Lula told reporters from Sao Paulo state.
He blamed Bolsonaro for inflaming his supporters with a campaign of baseless allegations about election fraud after the end of his rule, which was marked by divisive nationalist populism.
Bolsonaro currently in the U.S.
From Florida, where Bolsonaro flew 48 hours before his term ended, the former president rejected the accusation. He said on Twitter that peaceful demonstrations were democratic but the invasion of government buildings “crossed the line.”
Police retook the damaged public buildings in the capital after three hours and dispersed the crowd with tear gas.
Justice Minister Flavio Dino said investigations would aim to uncover who financed the several hundred buses that brought Bolsonaro’s supporters to Brasilia and also probe Rocha for not preparing security.
Bolsonaro faces legal risks from several investigations before the Supreme Court in Brazil, and his future in the United States, where he travelled on a visa issued only to sitting presidents, is in question.
“Bolsonaro should not be in Florida,” U.S. congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, said on CNN. “The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil.”
The invasion recalled the assault on the U.S. Capitol two years ago by backers of former president Donald Trump, who has often praised Bolsonaro’s leadership.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who faces prison time in the U.S. for defying a subpoena from the congressional committee investigating the U.S. attack of 2021, has spread allegations of voter fraud in the Brazil election on his podcast. Bannon has longstanding ties with the former leader’s son, Eduardo Bolsonaro.
The attacks on Sunday were condemned by several world leaders and governments, including the Biden administration and the Kremlin in Russia.