The anti-government crowd was allowed to loot the government building in Brasilia, according to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who also vowed to purge ardent supporters of his predecessor.
Investigations have started to determine who was in charge of allowing supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro to storm and vandalize the presidential palace. The work of filtering out those individuals would be challenging, according to his senior advisers.
“Many members of the military police participated in this as accomplices. There was numerous military personnel who participated in the crime, “Lula told reporters. “Since I did not notice that the door was broken, I am confident that it was opened to let these folks in,” the man said.
As a result of the army’s inaction to disperse the two-month-old camp of Bolsonaro supporters outside its headquarters, who have been calling for the military to annul the results of the October elections, Lula has also increased his criticism of the military.
Requests for comment from the Brazilian army were not answered.
On Sunday, thousands of protesters rushed the Supreme Court, Congress, and the presidential palace, demanding a military coup to remove Lula and install Bolsonaro as president. They left a trail of broken windows, furniture, laptops, and works of art in their wake.
The police force in charge of maintaining public safety in the capital of Brazil failed to stop the crowd from approaching the building, and some were even shown in photos posted on social media taking pictures and chitchatting with protesters.
Only when Lula ordered the federal government to become involved in local security were riot police able to disperse the crowd with tear gas and make about 1,800 arrests of demonstrators.
One of the first people to be held accountable for security violations was the governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, a Bolsonaro ally. On Sunday, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest of his security chief and chief of police in addition to suspending him from his position.
According to a Reuters witness, the battalion of soldiers tasked with protecting the presidential palace did not act either until protesters had entered and demolished the building.
The National Security Adviser’s office (GSIfour )’s on-duty employees were soon overpowered within the presidential palace, and their office was looted. They watched as demonstrators tried to break into Lula’s office by kicking at the reinforced door.
One suggestion made by Lula’s advisors would be to prohibit military and police officers from running for elected office in an effort to prevent the politicization of security forces.
A growing number of former and even active-duty members of Brazil’s Congress make a point of mentioning their service in the military or police as part of their appeal for maintaining law and order.
“This overwhelming military and military police involvement in politics is gradually contaminating the forces with ideologies,” Costa claimed.
On Wednesday, Lula vetoed a portion of a bill that Bolsonaro’s Congress had enacted guaranteeing police officers’ ability to participate in political protests.
Source: Reuters
