On Wednesday afternoon, Senator Cid Gomes was shot twice by masked police protesters in the northeastern city of Sobral, after he attempted to breach a blockade outside a military battalion, from atop a digger. Beyond the shocking and bizarre circumstances of the incident and the potential for tragedy, the event casts light on the broader issue of military police protests in Ceará, which may spread across Brazil to devastating effect.
Moments before being shot, Mr. Gomes led a group of counter-protesters outside the police battalion in Sobral, giving the striking law enforcement agents “five minutes to collect [their] relatives, spouses,...
