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Senate Candidate in Brazil in Hiding After Slapping Voter on Election Day Senate Candidate in Brazil in Hiding After Slapping Voter on Election Day
(about 1 hour later)
A retired police colonel who failed to win a seat in Brazil’s Senate on Sunday still managed to seize the nation’s attention by slapping a voter in the face — in full view of witnesses and at least two cameras — when she objected to his attempt to cut the line at a polling place.A retired police colonel who failed to win a seat in Brazil’s Senate on Sunday still managed to seize the nation’s attention by slapping a voter in the face — in full view of witnesses and at least two cameras — when she objected to his attempt to cut the line at a polling place.
The candidate, Marcos Antônio Cardoso de Brito, was in hiding Monday after video of the incident spread online, and officials in the northern state of Alagoas ordered his arrest.The candidate, Marcos Antônio Cardoso de Brito, was in hiding Monday after video of the incident spread online, and officials in the northern state of Alagoas ordered his arrest.
Colonel Brito was a marginal candidate, finishing in seventh and last place with just 0.16 percent of the vote, in a contest won by a disgraced former president of Brazil, Fernando Collor de Mello. But the fact that the former police colonel reacted so violently to the woman, and was last seen being ushered away by a police escort, seemed to resonate with Brazilians who complain that the nation’s military police force still acts with impunity, three decades after the end of dictatorship.Colonel Brito was a marginal candidate, finishing in seventh and last place with just 0.16 percent of the vote, in a contest won by a disgraced former president of Brazil, Fernando Collor de Mello. But the fact that the former police colonel reacted so violently to the woman, and was last seen being ushered away by a police escort, seemed to resonate with Brazilians who complain that the nation’s military police force still acts with impunity, three decades after the end of dictatorship.
Video of the slap was widely shared on social networks, forcing the state’s military police force to issue a statement saying that an investigation had been opened into the conduct of the officers who witnessed the assault. A second recording of the incident broadcast on Monday offered an even clearer image of the colonel’s hand snapping the woman’s head back.Video of the slap was widely shared on social networks, forcing the state’s military police force to issue a statement saying that an investigation had been opened into the conduct of the officers who witnessed the assault. A second recording of the incident broadcast on Monday offered an even clearer image of the colonel’s hand snapping the woman’s head back.
The ease with which Colonel Brito continued to evade arrest, however, led a senior election official in the state to suggest on Facebook that the force simply did not want to arrest him.The ease with which Colonel Brito continued to evade arrest, however, led a senior election official in the state to suggest on Facebook that the force simply did not want to arrest him.
The woman who was slapped, Dr. Marta Celeste de Oliveira, told a local broadcaster that officers providing security at the polling station said later that they did not intervene because they were afraid of the former colonel. The woman who was slapped, Dr. Marta Celeste de Oliveira, told a local broadcaster that officers providing security at the polling station said later that they did not intervene because they were afraid of the former colonel. The doctor also said that she intervened only after the colonel tried to have officers arrest a senior citizen waiting to vote who had objected first to the candidate’s attempt to cut the line.
By winning the support of just 1,922 voters in his Senate race, Colonel Brito failed even to match the raw vote total of his National Ecological Party’s most outrageous candidate, Manoel dos Santos Silva Irmão, a gray-bearded São Paulo resident who ran for Congress under the nickname Bin Laden.By winning the support of just 1,922 voters in his Senate race, Colonel Brito failed even to match the raw vote total of his National Ecological Party’s most outrageous candidate, Manoel dos Santos Silva Irmão, a gray-bearded São Paulo resident who ran for Congress under the nickname Bin Laden.