© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

2 Brazilian security officials are accused of colluding with rioters

DWANE BROWN, HOST:

Authorities in Brazil have ordered the arrest of two security officials accused of colluding with rioters who attacked government buildings in the capital. Over the weekend, thousands of supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro vandalized the Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices in Brasilia. They were spurred by false claims from the former president that his reelection loss was due to fraud. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.

CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Brazil's newly inaugurated president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, didn't mince words. Speaking to a group of governors at his heavily damaged presidential offices, he said keeping the government safe last Sunday was the job of the state police, and they failed to do so.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA: (Speaking Portuguese).

KAHN: "The police in Brasilia was negligent. The Brasilia police's intelligence was also negligent," said a visibly angry Lula. He went on to accuse state officers of even colluding with the demonstrators.

More than a thousand people have been detained for participating in the attacks on Brazil's Supreme Court, Congress and presidential offices. Yesterday, hundreds were released for humanitarian reasons, while hundreds more were formally charged. Yesterday, the head of security in Brasilia was ordered arrested. Anderson Torres, a Bolsonaro ally, had already been fired right after the riots. The newly appointed head of security, Ricardo Capelli, says Torres deliberately sabotaged Brasilia's police force.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RICARDO CAPPELLI: (Speaking Portuguese).

KAHN: He told CNN Brazil that just after days on the job, Torres gutted the leadership and then quickly went on vacation to the U.S. In a tweet, Torres denied any wrongdoing. He called the accusations of collusion absurd.

Authorities say they've identified businessmen from around the country who helped finance the attacks, specifically chartering buses to bring rioters into Brasilia. At least 80 buses arrived in the capital last weekend, packed with Bolsonaro supporters. Natalia Viana is an investigative journalist who monitors social media and the right wing in Brazil. She says rioters openly discussed traveling en masse to the capital. State officials had to have seen the communications, she says.

NATALIA VIANA: It is impossible that they did not know, and this is why we are not talking only about omission or incompetence. This is negligence, and it may be criminal. They may have concurred on the acts that happened.

KAHN: She says organizers used coded messages urging people to come to Selma's party in the capital, a play on words for a military call to action, and that they were hoping five corns would attend. The word for corn in Portuguese is similar to the word for millions.

Meanwhile, at the vandalized buildings, workers continue trying to clean up the damage. At the presidential offices, nearly every first-floor window of this glass-encased building was smashed. High-pressure water guns are used to pry shards out of the peripheral stone pathways. President Lula's spokesperson, Jose Crispiniano, scoffs at the notion that the rioters dared to drape themselves in the flag and call themselves patriots.

JOSE CRISPINIANO: It was very irrational and very misguided in the sense that they were destroying Brazilian history and Brazilian symbols.

KAHN: One treasure, a mid-20th century desk used by the first president to work in Brasilia, was tossed out a third-story window. The damage caused by the rioters is still being tallied.

Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Brasilia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Carrie Kahn is NPR's International Correspondent based in Mexico City, Mexico. She covers Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. Kahn's reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning news programs including All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Weekend Edition, and on NPR.org.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.