Ex-Brazil’s President Bolsonaro’s supporters storm Congress, Supreme Court in protest
Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who have refused to accept his election defeat stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace at the country’s capital on Sunday.
The demonstrators embarked on the protest a week after the inauguration of his leftist rival and former leader, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Thousands of demonstrators bypassed security barricades, climbed on roofs, broke windows and invaded all three buildings, which were believed to be largely vacant on the weekend, CBS reports.
Some of the demonstrators called for a military intervention to either restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power or oust Lula from the presidency.
According to the report, hours went by before control of the buildings on Brasilia’s massive Three Powers Square was reestablished, with hundreds of the participants arrested.
In a news conference from Sao Paulo state, Lula accused Bolsonaro of encouraging the revolt by those he termed “fascist fanatics,” and he read a freshly signed decree for the federal government to take control of security in the federal district.
“There is no precedent for what they did and these people need to be punished,” Lula said.
Videos showed protesters roaming the presidential palace, many wearing the green and yellow colors of the national flag that also has come to symbolize the nation’s conservative movement, coopted by Bolsonaro.