Over 400 suspects were arrested. Images from the CNN Brasil television channel showed Bolsonaro supporters dressed in yellow and green walking down the ramp of the Planalto presidential palace, accompanied by police, with their arms crossed behind their backs.
The demonstrators stormed Congress on Sunday afternoon (local time) before moving on to the Supreme Court and the seat of government. The protest came a week after Lula’s inauguration and brought back memories of the US Capitol storm in January 2021.
looting and devastation
In the congress building, the demonstrators smashed the windows of the façade and forced their way into the entrance hall. Videos showed demonstrators destroying furniture inside the building. Some of them gathered on the roof. A video from Congress showed demonstrators standing between destroyed furniture and the floor is flooded with water. MPs were not in the house.
The police were initially hesitant to take action against the demonstrators. Tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades were used to push the crowd back, but without success. A police officer on a horse was brought down and surrounded by demonstrators, and a video of the incident circulated on social networks.
After the attack on Congress, the protesters proceeded to the Supreme Court, where they smashed windows and destroyed the furniture. During Bolsonaro’s term in office, the judges repeatedly put the ultra-right head of state in his place and are therefore despised by his supporters.
Images were circulated on social media suggesting the attackers, dressed in yellow and green, had looted the courthouse. After the attack on the seat of the Supreme Court, the protesters moved to the Palacio do Planalto. There was also looting there, and pictures from inside the building reveal severe damage.
Lula announces tough action
Lula condemned the attacks. “All vandals will be found and punished,” said the head of state on Sunday. “We’ll also find out who funded it.” By decree, Lula ordered the federal government to assume responsibility for public safety in Brasilia.
Lula was in the state of Sao Paulo on Sunday. He had traveled to the city of Araraquara to find out about the consequences of the severe storms in the region.
“I condemn these anti-democratic acts, which urgently need to be punished with the harshness of the law,” Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco wrote on Twitter. The Senate and the House of Representatives are located in the Congress building.
Bolsonaro party: “Sad day”
Bolsonaro’s party also condemned the attacks. “Today is a sad day for the Brazilian nation. We cannot agree to the storming of the National Congress,” Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL) leader Valdemar Costa Neto said in a video released on Sunday.
“All orderly demonstrations are legitimate. But chaos has never been a principle of our nation. We condemn this behavior in the strongest terms. The law must be enforced to strengthen our democracy,” said Neto.
Harsh criticism from Lula’s Labor Party
The head of the ruling Workers’ Party (PT) raised serious allegations against those responsible in the capital, Brasilia. “The federal district government was irresponsible in the face of the invasion of Brasilia and the National Congress,” Gleisi Hoffmann wrote on Twitter.
“It was an announced crime against democracy, against the will of the voters and for other interests. The governor and his security minister, a Bolsonaro supporter, are responsible for everything that happens.”
The security chief of the capital Brasilia, Anderson Torres, was fired. “I have decided to dismiss the Minister of Security of the Federal District and at the same time sent all security forces into the streets to arrest and punish those responsible,” Federal District Governor Ibaneis Rocha wrote on Twitter. The attorney general’s office asked the Supreme Court to arrest Torres, who served as justice minister under Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro did not recognize Lula’s election victory
Bolsonaro never explicitly acknowledged his defeat. After the election, radical supporters of the former military had repeatedly protested against Lula’s victory and called on the country’s armed forces to stage a military coup.
Bolsonaro supporters storm Congress
In Brazil, several thousand supporters of President Bolsonaro’s ouster stormed the parliament building, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in the center of the capital Brasilia. The protests were directed against left-wing President Lula da Silva, who was inaugurated last week.
Contrary to custom, Bolsonaro did not attend the inauguration of his successor Lula on New Year’s Day and flew to the United States with his family. Before departing for Florida, he addressed his followers and called them to fight against Lula.
Support for Lula from other states
Many states in the region lined up behind Lula. His government has Chile’s full support in view of the “cowardly, heinous attack on democracy,” President Gabriel Boric wrote on Twitter. Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard also wrote via the short message service that his country opposed any attack on democratic institutions.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro declared: “Fascism has decided on a coup.” He called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS). Argentine President Alberto Fernandez also spoke of an attempted coup and offered support.
US and EU condemn attacks
The US condemned the attacks. US President Joe Biden called the incidents “outrageous” during a visit to the state of Texas on Sunday, according to his spokeswoman. “Our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering,” said its national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
He condemned the attack on “Brazil’s democratic institutions in the strongest possible terms,” tweeted EU Council President Charles Michel. He pledged his “full support” to Lula. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “horrified” at the storming of the three buildings in Brasilia by “violent extremists”.
