Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Oct 29, 2025

Brazil arrests four people for alleged coup attempt in Bolsonaro riots

Brazil arrests four people for alleged coup attempt in Bolsonaro riots

Brazilian police said they had arrested at least four people and carried out nationwide raids on Thursday in investigations into an alleged coup attempt during riots by supporters of defeated far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Brazilian authorities, led by the Supreme Court, have been cracking down on a small but committed minority of Bolsonaro supporters who refuse to acknowledge leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's election victory and are calling for a military coup.

Bolsonaro, who has yet to concede defeat, has pushed baseless claims that Brazil's electoral system lacks credibility, which some of his hardcore base believe.

Thursday's operation came just days before Lula's inauguration on Sunday, and less than a week after police in Brasilia said they had foiled a bomb plot masterminded by alleged Bolsonaro supporters.

The raids stemmed from a riot on Dec. 12, the day Lula's victory was certified, when election-deniers camped outside army headquarters in Brasilia attacked the federal police HQ and set cars and buses alight after the arrest of a pro-Bolsonaro indigenous leader.

The federal police said on Thursday they were serving 32 search and arrest warrants in eight states under Supreme Court orders.

The alleged crimes were "qualified damage, arson, criminal association, violent abolition of the rule of law and coup d'état, whose maximum combined penalties amount to 34 years in prison," they said in a statement.

Cleo Mazzotti, who heads the federal police's organized crime division, said four people had been arrested by mid-morning, with more detentions expected as police searched for seven other suspects.

Two arrest warrants were served in the northwestern state of Rondonia, one in Rio de Janeiro and one in Brasilia, Mazzotti said in a press conference.

Speaking at the announcement of his new ministers, Lula urged people not to worry about post-election "noise."

"Those who lost the elections should stay quiet, and the winners have the right to throw a big, popular party," he said.

Incoming Justice Minister Flavio Dino cheered the operation, saying it was aimed at upholding the rule of law by "protecting life and property."

"Political reasons do not legitimize arson, attacking the federal police headquarters, depredations, bombs. Freedom of expression does not apply to terrorism," Dino wrote on Twitter.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the Brasilia riots followed days of mounting tensions in the election-deniers' camp following the Dec. 6 arrest of Milton Baldin, a Bolsonarista who had urged registered gun-owners to come to the capital to protest Lula's electoral certification.

Less than two weeks after the riots, police found a bomb in the capital. George Washington Sousa, a Bolsonaro supporter with links to the army encampment, confessed to making the device to provoke the military into an intervention.

Mazzotti said almost all the people targeted in Thursday's raids had visited the pro-Bolsonaro camp.

With growing fears about security risks around Lula's Jan. 1 inauguration in the capital, the Supreme Court on Wednesday banned registered gun-owners from carrying firearms in the federal district until after he takes office.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
×