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Brazil’s Authorities Race to Identify Organizers of Brasília Riot Brazilian Authorities Arrested the Rioters. Now They Want to Arrest Security Officials.
(about 4 hours later)
A day after arresting hundreds of people over the riot at Brazil’s capital, the Brazilian authorities turned their focus on Tuesday to the political and business elites suspected of inspiring, organizing or funding the rioters, who seized the seats of government in support of the far-right former president. BRASÍLIA — Brazilian authorities on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two government security officials, zeroed in on people suspected of funding this week’s violent protests and asked a federal court to freeze the assets of the far-right former president, Jair Bolsonaro, a broad expansion of the investigation into the invasion of Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices by protesters on Sunday.
In the most dramatic example of that turn, prosecutors on Tuesday asked a federal court to freeze the assets of the former president, Jair Bolsonaro, on Tuesday, citing “the accountability process and the vandalism that occurred” in the capital, Brasília, on Sunday, when Bolsonaro supporters ransacked the Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices. The moves showed that, a day after arresting hundreds of people suspected of taking part in Sunday’s riot in Brazil’s capital, Brasília, the nation’s top officials have now turned their focus to the political and business elites suspected of inspiring, organizing or aiding the rioters.
The petition was one of several moves by the authorities that highlighting the scope of the hunt to identify the ideological, logistical and financial architects of Sunday’s chaos, the worst attack on Brazil’s institutions since a military dictatorship ended in 1985. Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, issued the warrants for the two security officials, including Anderson Torres, the man effectively in charge of security for the capital, in response to a request by the federal police.
A Supreme Court justice issued arrest warrants for two prominent security officials, stating that they were under investigation for terrorism, criminal association, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law and coup. And the attorney general’s office was expected to take action against more than 100 companies thought to have helped the protesters. Mr. Moraes, a controversial figure who has been accused of severely overstepping his authority, said that investigators had evidence that the officials knew violence was brewing but did nothing to stop it. He said that they were under investigation for terrorism, criminal association and offenses related to the violent overthrow of democracy.
The request to freeze Mr. Bolsonaro’s assets is now in the hands of a judge, but it is unclear whether the court has the legal power to block his accounts. And freezing assets, even if it were not challenged in court, could prove to be a lengthy and complex process in its own right. Separately on Tuesday, a top public prosecutor asked a federal court to freeze the assets of Mr. Bolsonaro in relation to the investigation into the riots, though his office declined to explain why.
The justice minister, Flavio Dino, said on Tuesday that the police were already seeking arrest warrants for “people who did not come to Brasília but participated in the crime, who are organizers, financiers.” The protesters invaded the government buildings under the false belief that October’s presidential election, which Mr. Bolsonaro lost, was rigged, their actions spurred in part because of his yearslong efforts to undermine the electorate’s faith in Brazil’s election systems.
A day earlier, he said the authorities had zeroed in on companies in at least 10 states that were suspected of providing financial aid for those who took part in the attack. The attorney general’s office is also expected to ask a federal court to freeze the financial assets of more than 100 companies believed to have transported rioters to the capital or provided them with free food and shelter, according to press reports. The request to freeze Mr. Bolsonaro’s assets is now in the hands of a judge, but it is unclear whether the court has the legal power to block his accounts. And freezing assets, even if it were not challenged in court, could prove a lengthy and complex process.
Both Mr. Dina and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have suggested that the country’s powerful agriculture industry, which largely backed Mr. Bolsonaro in the election, played a role. Authorities are also expected to take action against more than 100 companies thought to have helped the protesters, including many believed to have transported rioters to the capital or to have provided them with free food and shelter, according to Brazilian media reports.
Brazil’s new justice minister, Flávio Dino, said government investigators had zeroed in on companies in at least 10 states that were suspected of having helped finance the riots. Authorities were seeking arrest warrants for “people who did not come to Brasília, but who participated in the crime, who are organizers, financiers,” Mr. Dino said on Tuesday.
Both Mr. Dino and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have said that they believe prominent players in the country’s powerful agriculture industry, which largely backed Mr. Bolsonaro in the election, played a role.
“These people were there today, the agribusiness,” Mr. Lula said after the attacks, adding that “all these people will be investigated, found out, and will be punished.”“These people were there today, the agribusiness,” Mr. Lula said after the attacks, adding that “all these people will be investigated, found out, and will be punished.”
Supporters of Mr. Bolsonaro had camped out for weeks outside the army headquarters in Brasília, espousing the false claim that the presidential election in October was stolen, and some called for the military to step in. The military and independent experts found no credible evidence of voter fraud in the election, which was won by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a leftist former president who defeated Mr. Bolsonaro and took office on Jan. 1. The moves highlighted the growing scope of the hunt to identify the ideological, logistical and financial architects of Sunday’s chaos, the worst attack on Brazil’s institutions since a military dictatorship ended in 1985.
Mr. Bolsonaro had for years asserted, without evidence, that Brazil’s election systems were plagued by fraud, but after the October election he authorized a transition of power to Mr. Lula. Mr. Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since before the inauguration, criticized the rioters on Sunday, saying that peaceful demonstrations were part of democracy but the “destruction and invasions of public buildings” was not. Many people who participated in the riots had been camped out for weeks outside the Army headquarters in Brasília, espousing the false claim that October’s election was stolen and calling for the military to step in. Military and independent experts found no credible evidence of voter fraud in the election, in which Mr. Lula, a leftist former president, defeated Mr. Bolsonaro. Mr. Lula took office on Jan. 1.
In the wake of the riot, investigators also face difficult questions about why rioters were able to enter federal government buildings so easily — and whether the authorities were blindsided, negligent or somehow complicit. While Mr. Bolsonaro had for years asserted, without evidence, that Brazil’s election systems were plagued by fraud, after the election he authorized the transition of power to Mr. Lula. Mr. Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since before the inauguration, criticized the rioters on Sunday, saying that peaceful demonstrations were part of democracy but the “destruction and invasions of public buildings” was not.
Some officials have been quick to place most of the blame on Anderson Torres, who served as Mr. Bolsonaro’s justice minister before becoming the public security secretary of the Federal District, which includes Brasília. In the wake of the riot, investigators are grappling with difficult questions about why rioters were able to enter federal government buildings so easily — and whether security authorities were blindsided, negligent or somehow complicit.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued warrants for the arrest of Mr. Torres and Fabio Augusto Vieira, the chief of the military police in the Federal District, who was responsible for the police forces on Sunday. Justice de Moraes, who has been accused in the past of severe overreach, wrote in his order that there were “strong indications that those investigated were colluding with a criminal association.”. Some officials have been quick to place much of the blame on Mr. Torres, who served as Mr. Bolsonaro’s justice minister before becoming the security chief of the Federal District, a small province that includes Brasília, on Jan. 2. That position made him largely in charge of the security plans for the protest on Sunday.
Ricardo Capelli, who is temporarily in charge of security in the Federal District under an emergency decree signed by Mr. Lula on Sunday, accused Mr. Torres of “sabotaging” security in the capital. Yet upon taking the new job, Mr. Torres quickly dismissed several key officials in his staff and then left for a vacation to Florida, leaving him out of the state during Sunday’s protests, according to Ricardo Cappelli, who has temporarily replaced Mr. Torres under an emergency decree signed by Mr. Lula.
“There is no security force without command,” Mr. Capelli told reporters on Tuesday. As soon as Mr. Torres took over on Jan. 2, Mr. Capelli said, “Chaos ensues. Coincidence? I don’t think so.” In an interview with the Brazilian newspaper O Globo on Tuesday, Mr. Cappelli said that in the days ahead of the large planned protests on Sunday, Mr. Torres assured the federal government that his team was in control.
The attorney general has requested the arrest of Mr. Torres and prosecutors are asking a judge to freeze his assets, along with those of Mr. Bolsonaro and the district’s governor, Ibaneis Rocha, who was suspended from his post after the riot. “What reached us was information saying that everything was fine, that the demonstration would be peaceful and that the troops would guarantee it,” he said.
As justice minister, Mr. Torres took part in attempts to undermine confidence in electronic voting machines. In a two-hour livestream on social media in July 2021, in which Mr. Bolsonaro claimed that the election process was rife with fraud, Mr. Torres stood by him and presented videos claiming to show how voting machines could be hacked. In comments to reporters on Tuesday, Mr. Cappelli accused Mr. Torres of purposefully “sabotaging” the security around the protests. As soon as Mr. Torres took over on Jan. 2, he said, “Chaos ensues. Coincidence? I don’t think so.”
State officials have said they accepted responsibility, but have not explained why security was light, despite warnings of the possibility of violent protests. Federal officials have also said that, during a planning meeting two days before the protests, Mr. Torres and other officials promised a far more robust security presence during the demonstrations than what they delivered.
State officials have said they accepted responsibility for the failures, but have not explained why security was light, despite warnings of the possibility of violent protests.
Mr. Torres said on Twitter that he would cut his vacation short and return to Brazil to defend himself. “I have always guided my actions with ethics and legality. I believe in the Brazilian justice system and in the strength of the institutions. I am certain that the truth will prevail,” he said.
Mr. Torres has long been a close ally of Mr. Bolsonaro. As the former president’s justice minister, Mr. Torres was a key player in the attacks against Brazil’s electronic voting machines. In July 2021, Mr. Bolsonaro announced that he would lay out his full case on why Brazil’s election system was rife with fraud. In a subsequent two-hour livestream, Mr. Torres sat next to him and presented videos claiming to show how voting machines could be hacked, which security experts later debunked.
Responding to requests from the federal police, Mr. Moraes issued warrants for the arrest of Mr. Torres and Fabio Augusto Vieira, the chief of the Federal District’s police. Mr. Moraes said the arrests were necessary to protect the investigation, preventing the suspects from destroying evidence or intimidating witnesses.
Brazil’s solicitor general also issued a request for Mr. Torres’s arrest, while another top federal prosecutor requested to freeze his assets. That prosecutor also asked to freeze the assets of the Federal District’s governor, Ibaneis Rocha, who has also been accused of allowing inadequate security during the protests.
Hours after the riots concluded, Mr. Moraes suspended Mr. Rocha from his job as governor for at least 90 days.
Mr. Moraes, a Supreme Court justice who is also Brazil’s elections chief, has become one of the nation’s most powerful officials in recent years after his fellow justices expanded his authority to combat what they call an unusual threat to Brazil’s democracy posed by Mr. Bolsonaro and his supporters.
In the run up to last year’s election, Mr. Moraes and fellow justices jailed several of Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters without trial for threatening Brazilian officials or institutions, and Mr. Moraes has forced tech companies to suspend the accounts of dozens of prominent right-wing voices.
Some on Brazil’s right have criticized the aggressive response to the riots, saying Mr. Moraes and other officials are overstepping their authority. Hamilton Mourão, a former Army general who was Mr. Bolsonaro’s vice president, criticized what he called “indiscriminate detention” of people suspected of taking part in the riots. The crackdown, he wrote on social media, “shows that the new government, consistent with its Marxist-Leninist roots, acts in an amateurish, inhumane and illegal manner.”
By Tuesday, the police had arrested 727 people in connection with the riots and were still questioning hundreds of others, the federal police said in a statement. Some 599 people who were detained for questioning had been released from custody.By Tuesday, the police had arrested 727 people in connection with the riots and were still questioning hundreds of others, the federal police said in a statement. Some 599 people who were detained for questioning had been released from custody.
Hamilton Mourão, a former Army general who was Mr. Bolsonaro’s vice president, criticized what he called “indiscriminate detention.” The crackdown, he wrote on social media, “shows that the new government, consistent with its Marxist-Leninist roots, acts in an amateurish, inhumane and illegal manner.” Many rioters filmed themselves and others as they invaded the government buildings, giving authorities a body of evidence to build a case. Augusto de Arruda Botelho, Brazil’s justice secretary, said the police had also collected DNA samples and fingerprints from the buildings.
Some of those who invaded federal buildings filmed themselves and each other during the riot, giving the authorities a body of evidence with which to build a case. Augusto de Arruda Botelho, national justice secretary, said police had also collected DNA samples and fingerprints from the buildings. Flávia Milhorance and Yan Boechat contributed reporting.
But prosecuting many of those who took part could prove difficult, legal experts said, given the need to link defendants to specific crimes.
A person’s presence at the protest camp in Brasília, or even on the avenue of the federal buildings, may not be enough to convict, said Bruno Baghin, a public defender and a law professor at the School of Public Defense of São Paulo State.
“Without attributing specific conduct to each individual,” he said, prosecution cases could be “very fragile.”
Flávia Milhorance, Yan Boechat and André Spigariol contributed reporting.