After senator is shot, police strike could spread across Brazil

By Gustavo Ribeiro

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, and children and leave in peace,” affirming that the police walkout was illegal. At this moment, Mr. Gomes was punched in the face by a masked protester.

The senator for the state of Ceará—who was born in Sobral—then got atop a mechanized digger and advanced on the main gate to the battalion, which was being barricaded by dozens of military police forces. It was then that Mr. Gomes was shot twice, in the clavicle and lung, by .40 caliber ammunition fired from the crowd of protesters (it was initially thought he was hit by rubber bullets).