Politics

Pro-Bolsonaro blogger accused of collusion with U.S. Capitol rioters

Allan dos Santos in his home in July, as the Feds raid his home as part of a probe on fake news rings. Photo: Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress

When thousands of far-right demonstrators stormed the U.S. Capitol building to pressure Congress to overturn the 2020 election results — in which Joe Biden soundly beat incumbent Donald Trump — many in the world saw the act as a chilling warning of the deterioration of one of the world’s longest-standing democracies. Supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, meanwhile, saw it as inspiration.

Ever since the “Stop the Steal” rally, the Brazilian far-right has given signs that it wants a January 6 riot to call its own. Social media forums erupted with talks about violent acts in Brazil, and fringe platforms such as Parler experienced a spike in Brazilian users.

In March, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro — the president’s third-eldest son — lamented that the rioters in the U.S. weren’t organized enough to take the Capitol. “If they were, they would have the firepower to assure nobody [among the rioters] would die, kill all the cops inside — or the congressmen they hate so much. When the right is 10 percent [as organized as] the left, we will have civil wars in every Western country,” he said at the time.

Eduardo Bolsonaro was among the allies of Donald Trump accused of...

Amanda Audi

Amanda Audi is a journalist specializing in politics and human rights. She is the former executive director of Congresso em Foco and worked as a reporter for The Intercept Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, Gazeta do Povo, Poder360, among others. In 2019, she won the Comunique-se Award for best-written media reporter and won the Mulher Imprensa award for web journalism in 2020