In Photos: 1,500 Bolsonaro Supporters Held for Brazil Riots, Lula Questions Army

Protesters, supporters of Brazils former President Jair Bolsonaro, storm the the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil

(Photo: PTI)

The supporters of former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace in Brasília on Sunday, 8 January, demanding that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was sworn in last week, be ousted and jailed for “stealing the election.”

Latest Updates:

• Brazilian forces on Monday dismantled a two-month-old camp opposite the army's headquarters where Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting since his election defeat, Reuters reported.

• With the dention of 1,200 people from the camp, the total arrests related to the Sunday's riots have reached 1,500.

• President Lula criticised Brazilian military and questioned why the army did nothing while calls for coup were made outside the barracks.

• "People were openly calling for a coup outside the barracks, and nothing was done. No general lifted a finger to tell them they could not do that," Lula was quoted as saying by Reuters.

• Tens of thousands of people in Brazil's Sao Paulo held pro-democracy rallies in response to the storming of Congress.

• Bolsonaro hospitalised in US for stomach pain. His doctor said he has an intestinal blockage that was not serious and would likely not need surgery, Reuters reported. 

• Bolsonaro is in the US on a visa heads of state, diplomats and other government officials, and his further stay in the country is in doubt. Bolsonaro arrived in the US when he was still in office.

Bolsonaristas Storm Key Govt Buildings in Brazil

Refusing to accept Bolsonaro's electoral defeat, thousands of rioters bypassed security barricades in capital Brasilia, climbed on roofs, smashed windows, and stormed key federal government buildings, which were believed to be largely vacant.

Far-right supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, called Bolsonaristas, dressed in yellow and green Brazil flags, even reached deserted Senate chamber, and vandalised the Supreme Court and other government buildings.

Security forces used tear gas, stun grenades, and water cannon to fight back rioters until they were finally subdued. At least 1500 people have been arrested.

The rioting comes just a week after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known known as Lula, was sworn into office o 1 January after defeating far-right incumbent Bolsonaro by a narrow margin in the run-off on 30 October.

Terming it an attack by "fascist fanatics," President Lula da Silva visited the ransacked buildings. He said that Bolsonaro encouraged the rioters and said: "There is no precedent for what they did and these people need to be punished."

During the campaign for the election Bolsonaro had repeatedly claimed that Brazil's electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud and his supporters refused to accept the defeat.

Bolsonaro, who is currently in Florida, condemned the "pillaging and invasions" in the capital but rejected Lula's accusation that he had a role in inciting the riots.

‘The Trump Playbook’: The riots in Brazil were eerily similar to the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. According to AP, political analysts had warned for months that a similar attack was a possibility in Brazil, given that Bolsonaro has been questioning the credibility of the country's voting system, without evidence.

Far-right leaders in the US had been tweeting about Brazil elections that may have played a role in inciting the riots in Brasilia. Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon spread baseless rumours about election fraud on his podcast and on social media for weeks around the time of the Brazilian election in October, BBC reported.

For weeks, Bannon had been posting with hashtag #BrazilianSpring, and promoting conspiracy theory regarding the results. Even on Sunday, as the reports of rioting in Brasilia emerged, Bannon wrote on social media site Gettr: “The Criminal Atheistic Marxist Lula stole the Election and the Brazilians know this… now see Lula crackdown like all Communist dictators.”

World Leaders React: Condemning the "assault on democracy" in Brazil, United States President Joe Biden said, "Brazil's democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was deeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism. "Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone. We extend our full support to the Brazilian authorities," Modi said.

Bolsonaristas - far-right supporters of Bolsonaro - stormed and vandalised key government buildings in Brasilia.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp has said it has declared the storming of Brazil's Congress a "violating event" and that will start removing and blocking content defending the attack, BBC reported.

A spokesperson for Meta told the BBC that it would immediately remove posts "calling for people to take up arms or forcibly invade Congress, the Presidential palace and other federal buildings".

Tens of thousands of people in Brazil's Sao Paulo held pro-democracy rallies in response to the storming of Congress.

Bolsonaro hospitalised in US for stomach pain. His doctor said he has an intestinal blockage that was not serious and would likely not need surgery, Reuters reported. 

President Lula criticised Brazilian military and questioned why the army did nothing while calls for coup were made outside the barracks.

(With inputs from AP, BBC, Reuters.)