Video: Backers of Brazil’s ex-prez Jair Bolsonaro storm government buildings in shock imitation of our own January 6th insurrection!

Dear Commons Community,

Chaos unfolded in Brazil yesterday as supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country’s Congress building and other government sites.

In a shocking scene reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters smashed windows and wreaked havoc inside Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace in Brasilia, the country’s capital.

Demonstrators called for the former president to return to office, a week after the inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the Oct. 30 election.

The hectic scene occurred when Congress and Supreme Court security was likely limited, with footage appearing to show a lack of authorities present as protesters swarmed the buildings.   As reported by the Associated Press and the Daily News.

Bolsonaro, who held the Brazilian presidency from January 2019 through Dec. 31, 2022, traveled to the U.S. before Lula’s inauguration last week and is living in Florida, where former U.S. President Donald Trump has a home. He hasn’t publicly commented on Sunday’s incidents.

The 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol involved Trump supporters storming the Capitol in Washington to protest the results of the 2020 election, in which President Biden defeated the Republican incumbent.

“Brazilian authorities had two years to learn the lessons from the Capitol invasion and to prepare themselves for something similar in Brazil,” Mauricio Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said Sunday.

“Local security forces in Brasilia failed in a systematic way to prevent and to respond to extremist actions in the city. And the new federal authorities, such as the ministers of justice and of defense, were not able to act in a decisive way.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday the U.S. “condemns any effort to undermine democracy in Brazil.”
“President Biden is following the situation closely and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering,” Sullivan said. “Brazil’s democracy will not be shaken by violence.”

The United States has become the example of how democracy works for the rest of the world!

Tony

 

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