Brazil’s Federal Prosecution Office this week charged a further 203 people in connection to the January 8 riots, during which far-right, pro-Jair Bolsonaro demonstrators ransacked the buildings that house all three branches of government in Brasília.
They were charged with two crimes: inciting the Armed Forces to act against the constitutional powers; and criminal association (equivalent to conspiracy to commit a crime in U.S. law). In a statement, the prosecutor general’s office said all charges concern people arrested at a campsite set up nearby the Army’s Brasília headquarters. The arrests were made on the day after the attacks.
A report released by the Justice Ministry late in January concluded that the protest campsite — set up shortly after the October election — was “central” to the unrest. Justice Minister Flávio Dino had said in December that the camps were “incubators for terrorists.”
The charges are before the Supreme Court, which will decide whether the demonstrators will face trial. Overall, nearly 1,400 people have been charged in connection with the January 8 riots.
The new charges conclude the work of the taskforce set up to investigate suspects detained on January 8 and 9. From now on, the group will focus on identifying the financial sponsors of the attacks and investigating the negligence of public agents. Former President Jair Bolsonaro is one of the targets of these inquiries — he is being investigated for allegedly inciting the mob that stormed the presidential palace, Congress, and Supreme Court buildings.
Separately, a select committee created by the local Brasília legislature has held several public hearings into the attacks.
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