Political violence erupted this weekend in Brazil when a policeman broke into a birthday party shouting slogans in favor of President Jair Bolsonaro and shot dead a party leader of the former president and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, before dying hit by defense shots made by his victim. The incident occurred on Saturday night during a party at a club located in the extreme west of the state of Paraná. According to the Police, the attack by the Bolsonarista had political motivations because the birthday had the theme of the Workers’ Party (PT) and the victim, Marcelo Arrudawore a t-shirt with Lula’s face.
Lulafavorite candidate in the polls for the presidential elections on October 2, atreferred to the far-right Bolsonaro “the climate of hatred in the country” reflected in this crime of the leader who was a municipal guard of Foz de Iguazú and treasurer of the PT in that city. The homicide occurred two days after a man was arrested in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday after throwing a homemade explosive into the crowd waiting for Lula at an event. The episode prompted the former president to wear a bulletproof vest for the first time in open events.
Crime motivated by “political intolerance”
Marcelo Arruda was celebrating his 50th birthday dressed in a shirt with Lula’s image in a club decorated with photos of the former president when a federal prison policeman, Jorge Guaranho, interrupted at the party with his wife and with a baby in his arms shouting “Bolsonaro president, sons of bitches,” According to witnesses told the local press.
Jorge Guaranho interrupted the party shouting “Bolsonaro president, sons of bitches”
The Bolsonarist policeman left the place after this first break-in and returned only 20 minutes later. armed and shooting. Faced with such a situation, Arruda, who had been a candidate for vice mayor in the 2020 municipal elections, responded with his regulation weapon.
arruda who was with her four children, the last two months old, received three shots and the Bolsonarista police five, as reported by the Ministry of Public Security. “From what has been perceived so far, it is a crime committed for political intolerance”said the Secretary of Security of Foz de Iguazú, Mark Jahnkebased on the investigation of the Civil Police of the state of Paraná.
The hatred of an “irresponsible” president
Lula published a lengthy statement in which he accused Bolsonaro of implementing hatred in the country and said that with his reaction, Arruda managed to prevent a massacre at the party in which there were 40 people in a public employees’ club. “I also ask for understanding and solidarity with the relatives of Guaranho, who lost a father and a husband because of the hate speech of an irresponsible president. We need democracy, dialogue, tolerance and peace”said the former president on Twitter.
Along the same lines, the president of the PT, Gleisi Hoffmanassured: “Packed by a hate speech and dangerously armed by the current policy of the President of the Republic, which stimulates confrontation, conflict, the attack on adversaries, any person attached to this project of death and destruction has been transforming into an aggressor or murderer“. Hoffmann also asked the Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Tribunal for measures to deal with any situation that fuels a climate of violent dispute.
Bolsonaro in one of his speeches: “We are going to machine-gun the PT members”
Arruda’s murderer had a profile on social networks in tribute to Bolsonaro and the release of weapons for the civilian population. On Thursday, on his weekly Facebook live, Bolsonaro there was summoned his followers to act before the elections cagainst alleged electoral fraud, after affirming that an invasion of Congress similar to the one that happened in the United States with the followers of Donald Trump would not occur in Brazil.
“You know what is at stake, you know how to prepare, not for a new Capitol, nobody wants to invade anything, but we know what we have to do before the elections”Bolsonaro said in a message addressed to his followers. PT leaders recalled Bolsonaro’s speeches this weekend on their social networks with phrases such as: “We are going to machine-gun the PT (supporters of the PT)” or “let’s wipe the reds off the map”.
Concern for Lula’s safety
Lula’s safety worries to the coordinators of the PT campaign, as a result of the threats that the former president has been suffering since he was released after spending 580 days in prison for ‘Operation Lava Jato’, in a case annulled by the Supreme Court for manipulation and political animosity.
On June 27, Lula and his vice-presidential candidate, the former São Paulo governor Gerald Alckmin, launched the guidelines of the Government program in an act at the Intercontinental Hotel, in the exclusive neighborhood of Jardins, in São Paulo. In the middle of a speech, a Bolsonarist and far-right Catholic named Caíque Mafra, dodged security and approached Lula to shout insults at him.
Last Tuesday was stopped businessman Rodrigo Parreira, Bolsonaro supporter and owner of the drone that dumped sewage on Lula supporters at a campaign rally in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais on June 15. On the other hand, on Friday the Brazilian police identified and arrested the person responsible for throwing two homemade bombs during a public act of Lula which had taken place the night before in Rio de Janeiro.
The 55-year-old man was charged with the crime of explosion, for which sentences of three to six years in prison are foreseen, according to the Brazilian portal. G1. The defendant threw two homemade bombs to the public gathered in the traditional Cinelandia square, in Rio de Janeiro, before Lula went on stage.
Bolsonaro has made access to weapons more flexible since his rise to power and encourages the population to arm themselves
It was the former president’s first act in a public square since he launched his candidacy. Minutes after the attack, the former president took the stage with a bulletproof vest and, although he did not mention the episode, he did talk about the fight against violence in the city.
Bolsonaro made access to weapons more flexible since his rise to powerY encourages the population to arm themselves. On Saturday, hundreds of people marched in Brasilia to defend the possession of weapons, a hot debate in different countries of the world such as the United States, due to the frequent mass shootings.
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