1500 protesters arrested as Brazilian police regain control of Congress building
Security forces in Brazil regained control of the National Congress building Sunday and arrested 1500 people after hundreds of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed and ransacked the legislative chambers.
"There are already 1500 people arrested in today's operation. The investigations are underway until the last member is identified," the Civil Police of the Federal District (PCDF) said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian Supreme Court has ruled to remove Governor of the Federal District Ibaneis Rocha from office for three months after the unrest at government buildings in Brasilia.
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The move came after the dismissal of the Federal District Security Secretary Anderson Torres, who is also the former justice minister under Bolsonaro's government.
Bolsonaro meanwhile insisted in a tweet that "peaceful demonstrations, in the form of the law, are part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017," are not within the rules.
Bolsonaro, who left the country two days prior to the Jan. 1 inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for a third term as president and is living in Orlando, Florida in the US, wrote on Twitter that "throughout my mandate, I was always (operating) within the four lines of the Constitution, respecting and defending the laws, democracy, transparency and our sacred freedom."
Bolsonaro also repudiated accusations being leveled against him "without evidence, attributed to me by the current head of the executive of Brazil."
His remarks followed comments by Lula earlier Sunday at a press conference where he had alleged that the far-right politician had encouraged such actions in a number of his speeches.
After Lula's election victory last October, Bolsonaro supporters demonstrated, many blocking highways across the country and pushing for the military to intervene against the leftist leader.
Ahead of the vote, Bolsonaro also cast doubt about whether he would respect the election results, raising concerns about Brazil's electronic voting system without providing evidence.
On Sunday, Bolsonaro supporters managed to invade and ransack three branches of the government in the capital Brasilia -- the Planalto Palace, or President's office, Congress and the Supreme Federal Court -- until they were eventually contained by security forces.
