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Bolsonaro supporters storm Brazil congress, supreme court, and presidential office buildings – JURIST

Crowds supporting former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Sunday infiltrated and vandalized the country’s National Congress, Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), and presidential palace buildings one week after the inauguration of left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Demonstrators smashed the National Congress’s windows and stormed its senate chamber. Protesters then breached the country’s Supreme Federal Tribunal, entering the main courtroom clad in Brazillian flags. Many also forced their way into the Planalto Palace, the President’s office building. All locations are within Brazil’s Federal District.In an event eerily reminiscent of the January 6, 2020 attack on the US Capitol, a large mass of protesters could be seen gathering outside the National Congress building while others streamed into its hallways and chamber. Protests have also been reported outside the country’s Presidential Palace. Clashes between police and protesters have also been reported, but one journalist tweeted a video of what appears to be a Federal District Military Police officer taking a selfie with demonstrators.Brazilian Justice and Public Security Minister Flávio Dino declared amidst the chaos that:This absurd attempt to impose the [protesters’] will by force will not prevail. The Government of the Federal District affirms that there will be reinforcements. And the forces at our disposal are at work. I’m at the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice.Bolsonaro recently lost a case on November 23 before Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) which rejected his request to throw out certain votes from electronic voting machines, enough votes to reverse the outcome of the election. Bolsonaro’s team claimed that the voting machines were faulty and that results reported from them could not be verified. After the TSE dismissed Bolsonaro’s challenge, an STF justice fined Bolsonaro for filing it in bad faith.It took Bolsonaro more than a week to comment on his October 2022 election loss to Lula. His administration remained silent the day after his loss but announced two days later that they would not contest the result amidst disparate allegations of election fraud from Bolsonaro supporters.Both the STF and TSE have come under fire from Bolsonaro supporters, who continue to claim that the election was fraudulent. Bolsonaro himself questioned the integrity of the country’s voting machines in advance of the 2022 election. Flávio Bolsonaro, the ex-president’s son, took to Twitter three days before the election and said that his father is “being the victim of the biggest electoral fraud ever seen.”UPDATE (4:18 PM ET): In a televised statement President Lula condemned the violence and announced a decree authorizing Justice Ministry Executive Secretary Ricardo Garcia Capelli to use all federal and military resources necessary to end the riots.UPDATE (4:27 PM ET): President Lula said via Twitter that:They took advantage of the silence on Sunday, when we are still setting up the government, to do what they did. And you know that there are several speeches by the former president encouraging this. And this is also his responsibility and the parties that supported him.Lula also stated:I came to Araraquara today to show solidarity with the families affected by the rains and to find out how much will be needed to replace what was destroyed in the city. I was here when we started following the vandals on television… It is the [Federal District] police who have to do security in the [Federal District], who did not. Due to the incompetence and bad faith of the people who take care of the security of the [Federal District].UPDATE (5:21 PM ET): Brazil’s Attorney General Office has asked STF Justice Alexandre de Moraes to arrest former Bolsonaro Justice Minister and current head of Federal District security Anderson Torres.