Brazilian authorities have detained some 1,500 people in connection with the attack on government buildings in the country’s capital on Sunday by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The 1,500 people include those formally arrested for the vandalism and those detained for questioning, Brazil’s Justice Minister Flávio Dino said at a news conference on Monday. Police stopped 40 buses as part of the response and dismantled a camp of Bolsonaro supporters in front of a military building.
Chaos erupted in Brasilia on Sunday when mobs protesting the country’s presidential election vandalized Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace. It appeared that they breached buildings by scaling roofs and breaking windows.
The act was described as «coup violence» by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office on January 1, responded by authorizing federal intervention in the Federal District until the end of January.
Lula described the rioters as «fascists,» according to translations of his tweets.
“Whoever did this will be found and punished. Democracy guarantees the right to free expression, but it also demands that people respect the institutions,” Lula tweeted. “There is no precedent in the history of the country for what they did today. That’s why they should be punished.»
He also directly blamed Bolsonaro, tweeting on Sunday, «this is also his responsibility and the parties that supported him.»
Bolsonaro, who has recently been seen in Florida, denied the allegations.
«I condemn the assault on democracy and the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil,» he tweeted. «Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.»
Bolsonaro’s wife, Michelle, said Monday that he was in the hospital, though she did not say where. In an Instagram Story, she said Bolsonaro was under observation for «abdominal discomfort» from a 2018 stabbing incident.
Throughout his re-election campaign last year, Bolsonaro sowed doubts about electoral security among his supporters through misinformation. He repeatedly claimed that Brazil’s electronic voting machines were prone to fraud, with no evidence to back up his unsubstantiated claims.
When Lula won a slim majority in a runoff election, Bolsonaro did not immediately relent. He and his party challenged the results in a legal appeal that was rejected by the Superior Electoral Tribunal. The magistrate who handed down the sentence, Alexandre de Moraes, described the judicial presentation as a litigation in bad faith.
«Democracy is not an easy, exact or predictable path, but it is the only path and the Judiciary does not tolerate criminal and anti-democratic manifestations that threaten the electoral process,» de Moraes wrote in his ruling.
Bolsonaro’s party was fined about $4 million.
Supporters of the former president have been protesting Lula’s victory since October 30, blocking roads, burning vehicles and gathering in front of military buildings calling on the armed forces to intervene in the transfer of power.
Lula has received the support of other world leaders, including Presidents Joe Biden and Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico.
“I condemn the assault on democracy and the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil,” Biden tweeted. «Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.»
Isabela Espadas Barros Leal Y The Associated Press contributed.
