Police politicization fuels Brazil’s institutional crisis

“The Supreme Court told me to mind my words,” André de Souza Costa posted on social media. “Fuck ’em.” 

André Costa works as a special press secretary for President Jair Bolsonaro and is a colonel in the Brasília Military Police – having been on active duty until May this year. Perhaps better than anyone else, Col. Costa encapsulates the convergence between Bolsonarism and state police forces — and how one is radicalizing the other.

Brazil is no stranger to political turmoil. It has seen major political stakeholders exposed in graft probes, one former president impeached, two others momentarily jailed — and the incumbent spreading barely coded threats of a coup d’état. All that during a time of dire economic crisis, with households losing purchasing power, inflation surging, and an energy crisis lurking in the background.

The country is now bracing itself for September 7, Brazil’s Independence Day, when supporters of President Bolsonaro will take to the streets in a show of support for the head of state — despite polls showing he has never been more unpopular. But the calls for demonstrations are riven with anti-democratic rhetoric — many pro-Bolsonaro militants are calling for a local version of the January 6 U.S. Capitol riots.

One pro-Bolsonaro country singer — who has since been targeted by a Federal Police investigation and is prohibited from approaching the Supreme Court building — talked of storming in and removing justices by force.

For months now, Mr. Bolsonaro has been ramping up his antics, but things became yet more grave after it became clear that several active police officers have his back. Last year, The Brazilian Report flagged the role of military police forces as key supporters of the Bolsonaro administration. One year later, this issue seems more pressing than ever.

The law strictly forbids policemen from engaging in politics while on duty. And yet, according to one São Paulo state lawmaker who worked in the force, between 5,000 and 10,000 officers plan on joining protests in Brasília and São Paulo. 

Many assume that demonstrators will be armed, given the presence of law enforcement agents and gun enthusiasts. Driven by a president willing to push the envelope as far as possible — a man who last year wanted to take troops to shut down the Supreme Court —, some fear that could boil over...