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Bolsonaro supporters storm Brazil’s capital as ex-president is believed to be in Florida

The incidents, which recalled the invasion of the U.S. Capitol, come just a week after leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in.
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Chaos struck Brazil's capital Sunday when supporters of far right former President Jair Bolsonaro descended on government buildings, breached them, climbed on a rooftop and broke windows.

Video depicted damage to an office in the presidential palace, as well as broken windows in the country's highest court.

Leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, sworn in Jan. 1, responded by authorizing federal intervention in the Federal District until the end of January. 

He called those who attacked Congress “fascists,” according to translations of his tweets Sunday.

“Whoever did this will be found and punished. Democracy guarantees the right to free expression, but it also requires people to respect institutions,” Lula tweeted. “There is no precedent in the history of the country what they did today. For that they must be punished.” 

Authorities used tear gas and clashed with the demonstrators, according to video from the scene distributed by news organization Reuters.

Many among the demonstrators wore the national colors of Brazil, yellow and green, associated in recent years with supporters of Bolsonaro, who is believed to be in Florida.

Lula visited the scene of the unrest late Sunday, Brazil’s TV Globo reported.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva walks in Planalto Palace after it was stormed by supporters of Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia on Sunday.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva walks in Planalto Palace after it was stormed by supporters of Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia on Sunday. Eraldo Peres / AP

Ibaneis Rocha, the governor of Brazil’s capital district, said more than 400 people involved in the demonstrations and breaches have been arrested.

He said authorities continued to work to restore order. Rocha described the day’s events as acts of terrorism.

The incidents, which recalled the Jan. 6, 2021, invasion of the U.S. Capitol, come amid disinformation about the election, aimed mostly at Lula.

"The electoral cycle was marked by the use of public resources for campaigning and a sophisticated disinformation network," the nonprofit Carter Center said in November after having observed the presidential election.

"Most attacks targeted the Lula campaign," it said.

Lula accused the mob of taking advantage of the quiet Sunday as his administration was still moving into government. He then took direct aim at Bolsonaro.

Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, stand on the roof of the National Congress building after they stormed it, in Brasilia on Sunday.
Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, stand on the roof of the National Congress building after they stormed it, in Brasilia on Sunday. Eraldo Peres / AP
Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro rifle through papers on a desk after storming the Planalto Palace in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023.
Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro rifle through papers on a desk after storming the Planalto Palace in Brasilia on Sunday.Eraldo Peres / AP

"And you know that there are several speeches by the former president encouraging this," Lula said. "And this is also his responsibility and the parties that supported him."

Bolsonaro denied Lula's assertions on Twitter, saying he has always respected the tenets of Democracy. He compared the situation to left-wing uprisings in 2013 and 2017 and said all such violence against government is illegal.

President Joe Biden denounced the assault.

“I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil,” he tweeted. “Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., drew an explicit comparison between the chaos and former President Donald Trump's supporters.

"Democracies of the world must act fast to make clear there will be no support for right-wing insurrectionists storming the Brazilian Congress," Raskin wrote. "These fascists modeling themselves after Trump’s Jan. 6 rioters must end up in the same place: prison."

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador tweeted his support for Brazil's new government Sunday, calling the event a "coup attempt."

"Reprehensible and undemocratic the coup attempt by the conservatives in Brazil encouraged by the oligarchic power leadership, their spokespersons and fanatics," he wrote. "Lula is not alone, he has the support of the progressive forces of his country, Mexico, the American continent and the world."

Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting Lula’s win since Oct. 30, blocking roads, setting vehicles on fire and gathering outside military buildings asking armed forces to intervene.

The Superior Electoral Court rejected voter fraud claims from Bolsonaro and his party in November. The justice who made the ruling, Alexandre de Moraes, described the legal filing as bad faith litigation.

Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro storm the the National Congress building in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023.
Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro storm the National Congress building in Brasilia on Sunday.Eraldo Peres / AP

"Democracy is not an easy, exact or predictable path, but it is the only path and the Judiciary does not tolerate criminal and anti-democratic manifestations that attack the electoral process," de Moraes wrote in his ruling.

He fined Bolsonaro's party about $4 million.

Lula defeated Bolsonaro, the incumbent, in a runoff election in a narrow majority of 50.84%.

Throughout his campaign, Bolsonaro, who did not immediately concede the race, sowed seeds of doubt about election security to his supporters through misinformation. He repeatedly asserted that Brazil's electronic voting machines were prone to fraud, with no evidence to support his unfounded claims.