Brazil retook control of government buildings overrun by anti-government protesters on Sunday. The government ordered investigation into the riot and vowed to bring the plotters to justice. According to Justice Minister Flavio Dino, as many as 200 demonstrators were arrested. He added that the probe will also aim at uncovering the people who financed the uprise against the government of Lula d Silva who took power barely a week ago.
Meanwhile, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently in the US, condemned the attack and said he had no role in it.
Federal Police in Charge
President Lula ordered federal police to take care of public security in the capital. He also said the "fascist" elements will receive exemplary punishment. "All the people who did this will be found and punished," Lula said in Sao Paulo. He also blamed Bolsonaro for inflaming the anti-government protesters. Bolsonaro had flown out of the country two days before his official term ended.
Brazilian media said the occupation of the key government buildings including the Presidential palace, the supreme court and the parliament house was the result of long-term planning. At lest two weeks of planning went into the riot and the plotters had been planning the protest on social media messaging platforms such as Telegram and Twitter.
The Breach
On Sunday, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed key government buildings, breaching security barricades. The newly elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was not in the presidential palace when the massive security breach happened.
The protesters entered the congressional building, the Supreme Court and the Presidential Palace, local media footage showed. Around 3,000 people were involved in the invasion of government buildings, and local media showed them ransacking the buildings and smashing the furniture.
The protesters, who have refused to accept the election loss of Bolsenaro, entered the Green Room, which is located outside the lower House of Congress chamber, Interim Senate President Veneziano Vital do Rogo said, according to CNN.
Bolsonaro lost a run-off election on October 30 after the presidential election earlier failed to determine a candidate. The former President had earlier said his team was cooperating with the incoming administration in the transition of power.
Bolsonaro's supporters, who believe the election was unfairly snatched from them, had been camping in the capital.
