In an event eerily reminiscent of the US capitol riot, thousands of supporters of Brazil's far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country's Congress, the presidential palace and Supreme Court on Sunday, breaching the security barriers set up by the Armed Forces.
Footage doing rounds on social media showed massive crowds invading the ramp that leads to the congressional building. Some of them reached entered the Green Room, located outside the lower House of Congress’ chamber, reported CNN.
The invaders also broke into the Supreme Court and the presidential Planalto palace. They left a trail of destruction in their wake, smashing windows and throwing furniture around and flooding parts of Congress with a sprinkler system. Some of them ransacked the ceremonial rooms in the Supreme Court.
One video showed a protester sitting at the desk of Brazil’s Congress president. Reports added that some protesters were seen taking gifts received from international delegations and destroying artwork while others tried to set the carpet on fire.
While President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was not currently in the building, a team assembled for the newly-elected president was working inside the palace during the riots.
The riots come just days after the inauguration of leftist President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva. Lula had defeated Bolsonaro in the tightly-fought elections, a victory Bolsonaro supporters refuse to acknowledge.
Meanwhile, President Lula, who spoke to media from Sao Paulo state, described the events as "barbaric." "These vandals, who we could call ... fanatical fascists, did what has never been done in the history of this country," said Lula. "All these people who did this will be found and they will be punished," he added.
"These people are everything that is abominable in politics, to invade the government headquarters, the headquarters of Congress and the headquarters of the Supreme Court like true vandals destroying everything in their path," Lula said, adding that there was a "lack of security."
He also blamed Bolsonaro for inciting his supporters. "This genocidist ... is encouraging this via social media from Miami," Lula said, referring to Bolsonaro. "Everybody knows there are various speeches of the ex-president encouraging this."
Bolsonaro responds
Though Jair Bolsonaro was mum for nearly six hours, he later took to Twitter to denounce "depredations and invasions of public buildings" in Brasília. He added that hat "peaceful demonstrations, respecting the law, are part of democracy."
"However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practised by the left in 2013 and 2017, escape the rule," he continued. "Throughout my mandate, I have always been acting according to the Constitution, respecting and defending the laws, democracy, transparency and our sacred freedom," he added.
"In addition, I repudiate the accusations, without evidence, attributed to me by the current head of the executive of Brazil," he added.
Bolsonaro, who initially declared that he won't acknowledge the elections, had also expressed doubt about the reliability of the nation's electronic voting system, though he had no evidence.
After Lula's win was declared in the run-off elections, Bolsonaro refused to publically accept his defeat, sowing polarisation in the country already struggling with inflation and poverty.
The weeks after the election also saw thousands of Bolsonaro supporters gathered at military barracks across the country, seeking military to intervene.
The former president is currently in Florida, flying 48 hours before the end of his mandate and was absent from Lula's inauguration.
Recent reports said the protestors have been cleared off from the government building and at least 400 people have been arrested so far.
World leaders react
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden called the events an "assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power," adding that Brazil's democratic institutions had full U.S. support.
"Using violence to attack democratic institutions is always unacceptable," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter. "We join Lula in urging an immediate end to these actions."
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres too condemned the Bolsonaro supporters’ breach of Brazil’s Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace.
