Followers of Jair Bolsonaro caused riots, setting several vehicles on fire, in Brasilia in a protest against the president-elect, Lula de Silva, who this day was ratified as the next president.
Supporters of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, caused disturbances this Monday around one of the Federal Police headquarters in Brasilia and set fire to several vehicles in protest of the arrest of a Bolsonaro.
The protesters, who mostly wore yellow and green clothing, which identify Bolsonaro’s followers, set fire to an urban bus that was circulating through the center of the capital and several cars that were in the parking lot of the police building.
The Military Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse the protesters who, according to local media, tried to invade by force one of the administrative headquarters of the Federal Police.
The riots took place in the central area of Brasilia, near the hotel where the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will assume power on January 1, is staying.
Police officers set up a security fence around the hotel after the riots broke out.
The demonstrators protested the arrest of an indigenous chief, who was detained on Monday by court order, for being suspected of supporting anti-democratic acts calling for a coup against Lula.
Supreme Court magistrate Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest of chief José Acácio Serere Xavante, for his alleged involvement in “undemocratic acts.”
The indigenous leader is being investigated for the crimes of “threat, persecution and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law,” said a statement from the Supreme Court.
Xavante, according to the statement, “carried out anti-democratic demonstrations in various places in Brasilia,” such as shopping malls, at the hotel where Lula is staying, and participated in an invasion of the capital’s airport last week.
The future Minister of Justice in Lula’s government, Flávio Dino, condemned the riots and violence, in a message on social networks.
“The depredation and attempted invasion of the Federal Police building in Brasilia are unacceptable. Court orders must be complied with by the federal Justice,” Dino declared on Twitter.
Since the second round of the elections, held on October 30, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters have taken to the streets to protest against the election result and to demand the “intervention” of the military to prevent Lula’s investiture.
Lula prevailed in the elections with 50.9% of the votes, compared to 49.1% for Bolsonaro, who has not publicly acknowledged his defeat, although he has allowed the start of the transition.
This Monday, Lula received the diploma that accredits him as president-elect, a procedure prior to the inauguration, which is scheduled for January 1.