Brazil Is Having Its Own Jan. 6 Right Now

BRAZIL-POLITICS-BOLSONARO-SUPPORTERS-DEMONSTRATION – Credit: AFP via Getty Images

Images eerily evocative of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol are coming out of Brazil as thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro storm government buildings in the capital of Brasília. According to The New York Times, protesters have breached Brazil’s Congress, presidential offices, and Supreme Court.

Much like former U.S. President Donald Trump, the right-wing populist Bolsonaro has claimed for years that the country’s elections are riddled with fraud, claims many elections officials, election security experts, and fact-checkers have adamantly refuted. Bolsonaro has even alleged that detractors attempted and failed to steal the election from him in 2018. For weeks since Bolsonaro’s defeat by leftist opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Nov. 1, his supporters have been calling for a coup. Trump allies Steve Bannon and Jason Miller have reportedly been advising Bolsonaro since his defeat, and his son, Brazilian congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, has reportedly met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

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Similar to the U.S. insurrection, videos show protestors overwhelming police barricades and breaking glass to enter Congress. Unlike the U.S. insurrection, however, both Congress and the presidential offices were not heavily occupied by lawmakers or their staff ahead of the attack, as Congress was not in session. Bolsonaro was in São Paulo when the event began. He has announced intent to sign an emergency decree that would let the federal government use “any means necessary” to restore order through Jan. 31.

“This is a historic moment,” one livestreaming protester said, per the Times, calling the event “the invasion — the invasion, no, the occupation — of the national Congress.”

“Give a like and subscribe to my channel, guys,” the streamer added.

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Two days before his term ended and Lula became president, Bolsonaro delivered a video message to supporters and then left the country for Florida, meaning he skipped the traditional presidential inauguration and handover of power last Sunday. According to Reuters, Bolsonaro may have fled Brazil in part because once Lula became president, Bolsonaro’s presidential immunity would come to an end.

As protesters stormed government buildings, the president of Brazil’s Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, issued a statement saying he was in contact with Brasília’s governor who told him the entire state’s police force was being deployed “to control the situation,” the Times reported. “I’m vehemently against these antidemocratic actions which should be punished according to law urgently,” Pacheco said. Another Brazilian senator, Jean Paul Prates, called the protesters “terrorists.”

This breaking news story has been updated.

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