Brazil Chaos: Were Bolsonaro's Supporters Egged on by Capitol Riot Conspiracists to Storm Congress?

Authorities in Brazil were picking up the pieces and investigating Monday after thousands of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace, trashing the nation’s highest seats of power.

Protesters demanded military intervention to either restore far-right Bolsonaro to power or depose newly inaugurated leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in scenes of chaos and destruction reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurgency at the United States Capitol.

What Happened in Brazil?

Rioters donning the green and yellow of the national flag broke windows, toppled furniture, hurled computers and printers to the ground. They punctured a massive Emiliano Di Cavalcanti painting in five places, overturned the U-shaped table at which Supreme Court justices convene, ripped a door off one justice’s office and vandalized an iconic statue outside the court. The monumental buildings’ interiors were left in states of ruin.

In a news conference, Brazil’s minister of institutional relations said the buildings would be inspected for evidence including fingerprints and images to hold people to account, and that the rioters apparently intended to spark similar such actions nationwide.

Justice Minister Flávio Dino said the acts amounted to terrorism and coup-mongering and that authorities have begun tracking those who paid for the buses that transported protesters to the capital.

How Is It Similar to the 2021 Capitol Riots?

The parallels between Sunday’s mob violence in Brazil and the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, are obvious: Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s right-wing former president, spent months trying to undermine the results of an election he lost, much like Donald J. Trump did after losing the 2020 presidential election. Trump supporters who helped spread false information about the 2020 election have now turned their attention to casting doubt on the results of Brazil’s presidential election in October.

Bolsonaro’s and his allies’ efforts have now culminated in an implausible attempt to overturn the results of Brazil’s election and restore the former president to power. The mob that descended on the Brazilian capital on Jan. 6 overpowered police at the perimeter of the building that houses Congress and swept into the halls of power, breaking windows, taking valuable items, and posing for photos in abandoned legislative chambers.

The two attacks do not completely coincide. The Jan. 6 mob was attempting to prevent the official certification of the 2020 election results, a final, ceremonial step before the new president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., was inaugurated on Jan. 20.

However, Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was sworn in more than a week ago. The country’s electoral court, not its legislature, certified the presidential election results. On Sunday, there were no official proceedings to disrupt, and the Brazilian Congress was not in session.

The mob violence on January 6, 2021, “went right to the heart of the changing government,” and the attack in Brazil is “not as heavily weighted with that kind of symbolism,” Carl Tobias, a constitutional law professor at the University of Richmond told the New York Times.

What Has Trump Said About Bolsonaro?

During last year’s Brazil presidential election, Trump publicly backed Bolsonaro.

Trump praised Bolsonaro as a “great” leader in October of last year, urging Brazilians to vote for him.

Trump referred to the runoff election as a “big day for Brazil,” writing on his Truth Social platform, “VOTE for President JAIR BOLSONARO — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!!!”

He also slammed Lula da Silva, describing him as a “radical left lunatic who will quickly destroy your country,” according to AFP.

And Bolsonaro, who has maintained close ties with Trump throughout their tenures in office, was nowhere near the capital, having moved to Orlando, about 150 miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.

Did Trump’s Allies Have a Role to Play?

The role of Trump’s supporters is being scrutinised.

According to the BBC, the connection between Bolsonaro and the Trump movement came to light in November of last year.

The Washington Post reported at the time that Eduardo Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro’s son, had travelled to Florida to meet with Trump. He also spoke with former US President Barack Obama’s allies Steve Bannon and Jason Miller, who are said to have been advising Bolsonaro since his election victory.

Bannon has been spreading false rumours about election fraud in Brazil and promoting the hashtag #BrazilianSpring.

“What’s going on in Brazil is a world event,” Bannon said in November to The Washington Post. “People claim they have been grossly disenfranchised. [The movement] has progressed beyond Bolsonaro in the same way that it has progressed beyond Trump in the United States.”

Following the riots on Sunday, former Trump strategist Steve Bannon wrote on the social media site Gettr, “Lula stole the Election… Brazilians know this,”. He also referred to the protestors who stormed the buildings as “Freedom Fighters,” according to the BBC.

Notably, Bannon was instrumental in stoking election fraud allegations in the United States in 2020.

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