Brazilians protest the persecution of January 8th political prisoners
Tens of thousands of Brazilians gathered in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday to protest the abuse of January 8th political prisoners.
On January 8, 2023, a mass protest broke out that mirrored the one in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021. In protest of the country’s questionable presidential election, Brazilian demonstrators stormed the Planalto, Alvorada, and Jaburu Palaces—the seats of the country’s Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential office. Reports say agitators were planted in the crowd and accessed the buildings with inside help, and the Lula administration had advance knowledge of the riot. Brazilian officials had already openly shared how they were inspired by the Biden administration’s reaction to January 6th.
For months, millions across Brazil had been protesting the election victory of socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over Jair Bolsonaro, pointing out irregularities that indicated a rigged election. The Lula administration used the January 8th protest to justify a crackdown on Bolsonaro supporters. Harsh new legislation was introduced to criminalize election-related “misinformation” and opposition to “democracy.” Over 1,230 political prisoners were arrested in connection with the protest, without charges or investigation. More than 400 remain in prison, according to The Gateway Pundit.
On Sunday, roughly 18,000 Brazilians—including former President Jair Bolsonaro—congregated at Copacabana Beach to protest the persecution of the January 8th prisoners and demand Congress grant them amnesty. They also protested recent charges brought by the Lula administration against Bolsonaro that accused him of trying to engineer a coup. Bolsonaro addressed the crowd from a platform adorned with a poster of President Donald Trump’s defiant pose after his assassination attempt that bore the words “Fight, Fight, Fight!”
Bolsonaro fled to the United States after he was declared the loser of the November 2022 presidential election. In his absence, Lula had police raid Bolsonaro’s home over accusations that the former president falsified his vaccination status to gain entry to the United States. Lula also arrested and raided Bolsonaro’s supporters and denied his son’s application for a firearm.
Designed by the Biden administration?
Observers believe the January 8th protest was designed with the help of the Biden administration, which was also coaching Brazilian authorities on how to censor disfavored speech.
Following the January 8th protest, the New York Times reported that many of the protesters Sunday confirmed that the riot was the work of infiltrators.
“Have you ever heard of the Trojan Horse?” one protester, Nathanael S. Viera, 51, told the Times. “The infiltrators went in and set everything up, and the damn press showed the Brazilian nation that we patriots are the hooligans.”
“Donald Trump was taken out with a rigged election, no question about it, and at the time he was taken out, I said, ‘President Bolsonaro is going to be taken down,’” said Wanderlei Silva, 59. “The Democrats staged that and invaded the Capitol,” he added. “The same way they staged it here.”
