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A week after Brazil’s new President Luiz Insio Lula da Silva took office last week, supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the presidential palace, parliament and the Supreme Court in large numbers and looted them.
Protesters and security forces face-to-face outside Brazil’s parliament. (Photo: Reuters)
Rio de Janeiro: Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has refused to accept his defeat in the presidential election, stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in the capital on Sunday.
The incident comes a week after new President Luiz Insio Lula da Silva took office.
Indian Express Thousands of protesters crossed security barricades, climbed rooftops, smashed windows and attacked all three buildings, the Associated Press (AP) was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
Some of them called for military intervention to either restore right-wing Bolsonaro to power, or remove Lula from the presidency.
At a news conference in Sao Paulo state, President Lula said Bolsonaro had encouraged rebellion by those he calls “fascist fundamentalists.” At the same time, he read a freshly signed decree for the federal government to take control of security in the federal district.
“There is no precedent for what they did and these people should be punished,” Lula said.
Tv channel Globo News showed protesters wearing green and yellow of the national flag, which have become a symbol of the country’s conservative movement and are being used by Bolsonaro’s supporters.
The former president has repeatedly attacked supreme court judges, so the meeting room of the judges was broken by the protesters. They opened fire inside the Parliament House and vandalised and stolen offices in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Bolsonaro, who moved to Florida before Lula took office, did not comment on Sunday’s incident.
Police fired tear gas shells in an attempt to take back the buildings. In the afternoon, TV showed protesters being escorted out of the presidential palace with their hands tied behind them.
Security personnel tied the hands of the protesters and brought them out of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. (Photo: Reuters)
Justice Minister Flavio Dino said at a press conference that by evening the buildings had been regained control, about 200 people had been arrested and tear gas was fired to drive protesters out of the area.
Questions are being raised as to how the police ignored the warnings received in this regard and was not ready for it or to some extent complicit.
Speaking at a news conference, Lula said there was “incompetence and malice” on the part of the police. He has said that officers will be punished and removed from service.
Significantly, this incident has brought back memories of January 6, 2021, when supporters of then President Donald Trump stormed the US Parliament.
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