Supporters of outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday, December 12 attempted to invade the federal police headquarters in the capital Brasilia, in a flash of post-election violence on the day the president's electoral defeat was certified.
Bolsonaro supporters, many in their trademark yellow national soccer jerseys and Brazilian flags, confronted security forces at the police headquarters while the Police responded with stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Nearby buses and cars were set on fire.
Federal police in a statement Monday said "disturbances" near the headquarters were being handled with support from capital security forces.
The violence in Brazil came after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has led probes into Bolsonaro and his allies, on Monday ordered the temporary arrest of José Acácio Serere Xavante for allegedly carrying out anti-democratic acts.
Xavante, an indigenous leader, is among the Bolsonaro supporters who have protested in defiance of the Oct. 30 election result.
Earlier on Monday, the federal electoral court (TSE) certified the Oct. 30 election victory of Bolsonaro's leftist rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as president. After months of baseless suggestions that Brazil's voting system is vulnerable to fraud, Bolsonaro has neither conceded defeat to Lula nor has he formally blocked the handover of power.
But some of the president's diehard supporters have blocked highways in protest and camped out in front of army barracks, calling for a military coup to bar Lula from office.
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Following the arrest of an indigenous chief, called by many illegal, thousands are fighting the police in the streets of the capital, Brasilia.
— Politikeren (@PolitikerenXXX) December 13, 2022
Brasilia is on fire, with the arrest of the Tserere Indian from the Xavante ethnic group, police officers are pepper-spraying people. pic.twitter.com/j7fC3deI8I
Chief Tserere was arrested by the federal police after being cruelly beaten and knocked unconscious.
— Sabrina Ferrari 🇧🇷🇮🇹🇳🇿 (@SabrinaFerrar1) December 13, 2022
His eldest son, the brave boy who watched it all, is telling us what happened at that moment.#brasil #brazil #brazilianspring #brazilwasstolen #manifestação #brasilia #exercito pic.twitter.com/6VQm8d3feN
#BRAZIL: Chaos in Brasilia after the arrest of the Indigenous Chief Xavante Tserere, a supporter of president Bolsonaro. The arrest order was issued by the Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes for “anti-democratic engagement”.pic.twitter.com/G4jdJVJs5V
— Direto da América (@DiretoDaAmerica) December 13, 2022