Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Oct 07, 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
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
×