Brasilia:

Hundreds of supporters of Brazil’s far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro broke by police barricades and stormed into Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court Sunday, in what President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned as a “fascist” assault.

Bolsonaro responded to the raids by condemning the “pillaging and invasions” on the National Congress, Presidential palace.

A sea of protesters dressed within the inexperienced and yellow of the flag flooded into the seat of energy in Brasilia, invading the ground of Congress, trashing the Supreme Court headquarters and climbing the ramp to the Planalto presidential palace.

The surprising pictures recalled the January 6, 2021 invasion of the US Capitol constructing by supporters of then-president Donald Trump, a Bolsonaro ally.

Lula, who was within the southeastern metropolis of Araraquara visiting a area hit by extreme floods, signed a decree declaring a federal intervention in Brasilia, giving his authorities particular powers to revive regulation and order within the capital.

“These fascist fanatics have done something never before seen in this country’s history,” mentioned the veteran leftist, 77, who took workplace per week in the past after beating Bolsonaro in Brazil’s bitterly divisive October elections.

“We will find out who these vandals are, and they will be brought down with the full force of the law,” he added.

Hardline Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting exterior military bases in Brazil calling for a army intervention to cease Lula from taking energy since he narrowly defeated Bolsonaro within the October 30 runoff election.

Crowds of protesters scaled to the roof of the long-lasting Congress constructing Sunday to unfurl a banner with an enchantment to the army: “INTERVENTION.”

Social media footage confirmed rioters breaking doorways and home windows to enter the Congress constructing, then streaming inside en masse, trashing lawmakers’ places of work and utilizing the sloped speaker’s dais on the ground of the legislature as a slide as they shouted insults directed on the absent lawmakers.

One video confirmed a crowd exterior pulling a policeman from his horse and beating him to the bottom.

Police, who had established a safety cordon round Brasilia’s Three Powers Square, residence to the basic modernist buildings of the National Congress, the Planalto and the Supreme Court, fired tear gasoline in a bid to disperse the rioters — initially to no avail.

After failing to repel the invasion, safety forces used riot police on horseback and tear-gas bombs fired from helicopters to attempt to disperse the protesters. But the scenes of chaos continued into the early night, with big crowds nonetheless gathered on the three buildings.

A journalists’ union mentioned not less than 5 reporters had been attacked, together with an AFP photographer who was crushed by protesters and had his gear stolen.

‘Fraudulent election’

Protester Sarah Lima informed AFP they had been demanding a evaluate of the “fraudulent election.”

Lula narrowly gained the runoff by a rating of fifty.9 % to 49.1 %. Bolsonaro, who left for the US state of Florida on the second-to-last day of his time period, has alleged he’s the sufferer of a conspiracy towards him by Brazil’s courts and electoral authorities.

“We need to reestablish order after this fraudulent election,” mentioned Lima, a 27-year-old manufacturing engineer sporting the yellow jersey of the Brazilian nationwide soccer group — an emblem Bolsonaro backers have claimed as their very own — and protesting together with her younger twin daughters.

“I’m here for history, for my daughters,” she mentioned.

Newly-installed Justice and Public Security Minister Flavio Dino known as the invasion “an absurd attempt to impose (the protesters’) will by force.”

“It will not prevail,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The (Brasilia) federal district government is sending reinforcements and the forces on the ground are acting at this time.”

Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco tweeted he “vehemently rejects this anti-democratic protest, which must be punished with the full force of the law.”

There was swift worldwide condemnation of the protesters.

The US mentioned it “condemns any effort” to undermine democracy in Brazil, whereas National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan mentioned President Joe Biden was “following the situation closely.”

European Council President Charles Michel tweeted his “absolute condemnation,” French President Emmanuel Macron known as for respect of Brazil’s establishments and despatched Lula “France’s unwavering support,” as a raft of Latin American leaders joined in.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric known as the riots a “cowardly and vile attack on democracy,” Colombia’s Gustavo Petro tweeted that “Fascism has decided to strike a blow,” and Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard voiced the nation’s “full support” for Lula.

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