Man who stabbed Bolsonaro was a lone wolf, Feds reaffirm

Jair Bolsonaro, moments prior to being stabbed in 2018. Photo: Rafaela Frutuoso/Diário Regional Digital JF/Folhapress

The Brazilian Federal Police concluded its final report on the 2018 assassination attempt against former President Jair Bolsonaro, reaffirming the findings of two investigations stating that his assailant acted alone and took part in no wider plot to murder the far-right leader.

In September 2018, while campaigning for president in the southeastern city of Juiz de Fora, Mr. Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen by Adélio Bispo. He nearly died and has had to undergo multiple surgeries since the attack, still enduring lingering intestinal damage.

The incident sparked conspiracy theories from left and right.

His detractors suggested that the entire incident was staged in order to help his presidential bid. At the time, Mr. Bolsonaro led all polls but his popularity took a hit after multiple attacks by other candidates and a poor debate performance. After the murder attempt, other presidential hopefuls refrained from direct confrontation with him. Preserved from scrutiny, Mr. Bolsonaro cruised to a landslide victory in the 2018 runoff.

Mr. Bolsonaro and his supporters, on the other hand, have circulated unproven theories about Mr. Bispo having allegedly acted on behalf of opposing political parties.

The knife attack became a staple of Mr. Bolsonaro’s political discourse. In 2022, he launched his official re-election campaign in Juiz de Fora, where he claimed he had been “reborn.”

Mr. Bispo was arrested immediately after the attack and has been in jail since. He was declared not criminally responsible due to mental illness. Earlier this year, a judge ordered his transfer to a different facility in his home state of Minas Gerais.

“The Federal Police concluded that there was only one person responsible for the attack, who has already been sentenced and arrested,” the feds said in the statement published today.

“Other possible crimes were discovered,” the statement adds, concerning one of Mr. Bispo’s lawyers, “but without any connection” with the knife attack.