Brazil’s Supreme Court accepted a request from federal prosecutors to include Jair Bolsonaro in its investigation about the organization and funding of the January 8 riots in Brasília. The former president is accused of having incited the violent scenes carried out by his supporters.
The ruling was signed by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been a major antagonist to Mr. Bolsonaro and his acolytes. The justice considers that the former president “may have contributed, in a very relevant way, to the occurrence of criminal and terrorist acts.”
Hordes of far-right radicals stormed government buildings on January 8 to protest the 2022 election, which they falsely claim was rigged. Mr. Bolsonaro has for years told his supporters that Brazil’s electronic voting machines can be defrauded.
In Florida since December 30, Mr. Bolsonaro continues to stir the pot. On Tuesday, two days after the riots, he published a social media video containing lies about the voting system — saying Lula was chosen by the electoral courts, not the people. He deleted the post from his Facebook account moments later.
In his ruling, Justice Moraes said the video matches a pattern of conduct already under investigation in a separate case — which allowed Mr. Bolsonaro to be included in the new probe. The justice ordered Meta (Facebook’s parent company) to preserve the video and turn it in so it can be used in the investigation — including data on its reach.
Mr. Bolsonaro is already facing five separate criminal investigations for reasons ranging from his pandemic response, the spreading of misinformation, and the leaking of classified documents.
Alexandre de Moraes also wrote that investigators will have to prove a direct link between the alleged instigating conduct of the former president and subsequent criminal activity.
Instigator in chief
Mr. Bolsonaro has consistently pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable in Brazilian politics. Some institutions did their best to provide him with some checks and balances, but that never seemed to be enough.
For years he pitted his supporters against democratic institutions, equating politics with corruption and convincing them that the only solution for institutional problems was the implosion of said institutions. On more than one occasion, he hinted at the possibility of spearheading a coup d’état — often suggesting that the Armed Forces would back him if he crossed the Rubicon.
After being arrested for their role in the storming of Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace, many rioters justified their actions with talking points used by Mr. Bolsonaro, including but not limited to unfounded suspicions of voter fraud. They also include:
- Preventing Brazil from becoming a communist country. On multiple occasions, Mr. Bolsonaro associated the Brazilian left with communism, comparing the center-left Workers’ Party to the authoritarian left-wing regime of Venezuela;
- Protesting so-called “gender ideology,” a term coined by conservatives to bash gender studies championed by the left. Mr. Bolsonaro has associated such studies with pedophilia;
- Fighting for freedom of expression. Mr. Bolsonaro has firehosed Brazilian public discourse with misinformation — which sparked a reaction from electoral courts and social media platforms. He complains of being censored by authoritarian institutions.
This is the first time that Jair Bolsonaro has been officially included in an investigation related to the January 8 riots. It is also arguably the biggest move by federal authorities in responding to the most outright attack on democratic institutions since the end of the military dictatorship.
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