A former Brazilian parliamentarian, supporter of outgoing far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, threw grenades to prevent his arrest and thus injured at least two police officers, the authorities announced on Sunday October 23.
Former Congressman Roberto Jefferson was facing a prison sentence from the Supreme Court (STF) for violating the terms of his house arrest, after attacking a top magistrate on social media jurisdiction.
“Intimate friend”
At the time of the arrest, in the city of Levy Gasparian (State of Rio de Janeiro, southeast), Roberto Jefferson “reacted“and two policemen”were injured by shrapnel from a grenade he threw“, said the Federal Police (PF). The two people affected received medical attention and are in good health, added the PF, who reinforced the police presence at the scene.
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Roberto Jefferson put up resistance using “firearms and explosives“, but was finally arrested in the evening, “after intense negotiation“, also specified the PF, adding that he would be the subject of an investigation for attempted homicide. Jair Bolsonaro distanced himself from the former parliamentarian, tweeting: “Anyone who shoots a police officer should be treated as a bandit. I express my solidarity with the injured police officers in this episode“.
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Jair Bolsonaro also insisted he had no connection to Roberto Jefferson, who said in 2020 that the president was his “intimate friend“. The leader also denied appearing in photos alongside the ex-MP, but several outlets showed images of the two together when the former army captain came to power in 2019.
Bolsonaro criticizes the investigations
The Head of State had previously condemned “armed actionby Roberto Jefferson, who confined himself to his home for eight hours and confirmed in a video that he had used weapons, but apparently with no intention of harming members of the police force. Jair Bolsonaro, however, also criticized the judicial investigations against the ex-MP which, in his opinion, are being carried out “without any constitutional reason or any prosecution“. He also dispatched his Minister of Justice on the spot.
The magistrate of the STF Alexandre de Moraes had ordered the return to prison of Roberto Jefferson based on several breaches of the conditions of his house arrest. Roberto Jefferson had recently called STF member Carmen Lúcia “witch” and of “prostitute“. This incident comes a week before the second round of the presidential election next Sunday, where Jair Bolsonaro will face former left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), favorite in the polls.
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“The offenses committed against Carmen Lúcia cannot be accepted by anyone who respects democracy. A form of violence has been created in society. A machine for destroying democratic values. This generates behaviors like the one we saw today“, wrote Lula on Twitter, also expressing his solidarity with the injured.