Supporters of Brazilian far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro who refuse to accept his electoral defeat have stormed the Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in the capital, Brasilia.
Videos on social media showed Bolsonaro supporters smashing windows and furniture of the National Congress and Supreme Court buildings. They climbed onto the roof of the Congress building, where Brazil’s Senate and Chamber of Deputies conduct their legislative business, unfurling a banner that read “intervention” and an apparent appeal to Brazil’s military.
Images on TV channel Globo News also showed protesters roaming the presidential palace, many of them wearing green and yellow – the colours of the Brazilian flag, which have also come to symbolise the Bolsonaro government.
One social media video showed a crowd outside pulling a policeman from his horse and beating him to the ground.
Security forces used tear gas in an effort to repel the demonstrators. Local media estimating about 3,000 people were involved in the incident.
The siege comes just a week after the inauguration of Bolsonaro’s leftist rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Responding to the siege, Lula declared a federal security intervention in Brasilia.
Lula called the rioters “fascists, fanatics” and said they would be punished “with the full force of law.” The federal intervention in Brasilia will last until January 31, he said in a speech. Lula was far from the capital, on an official trip to Sao Paulo state.
Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting against Lula’s election win since the October 30 vote, blocking roads, setting vehicles on fire and gathering outside military buildings, asking armed forces to intervene. Many believed election results were fraudulent or unreliable.
Reporting from Rio de Janeiro, Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew said that some Bolsonaro supporters have been camped out in Brasilia since the election. (AlJazeera)