Brazil’s federal police arrested four people on charges of trying to break into police headquarters in the capital Brasilia earlier this month.
Authorities said the suspects, most of whom are supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro, also vandalized a police station and set several cars and buses on fire.
The police said at a press conference that its personnel have begun executing 11 arrest warrants and 21 search and seizure warrants in several states, including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, in an operation dubbed Nero.
Brazilian authorities have faced bouts of violence since Bolsonaro lost the October 30 election to President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and supporters of the president who refuse to accept his defeat blocked some main streets and highways, set cars on fire and detained outside military buildings, calling for armed forces. to intervention.
Authorities said dozens of people tried to storm the Brasília police headquarters on the night of December 12 to rescue a pro-Bolsonaro indigenous leader who had been arrested earlier that day. After their attempt was thwarted, the mafia began to spread through the city, committing a number of acts of vandalism.
Authorities made no arrests that night, and those involved have been investigated ever since, under the oversight of the Supreme Court, which is handling the case.
The police explained that most of the victims of Operation Nero had at some point frequented sit-ins by Bolsonaro supporters outside the army’s headquarters in Brasília.
Source: Associated Press