Pro-Bolsonaro camp setting the stage to shift perceptions on January 8

A group of lawmakers who support former President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday announced they had whipped enough signatures to create a select committee on the January 8 riots — when hordes of far-right Bolsonaro supporters stormed and ransacked the buildings housing all three branches of government. They protested the 2022 election results, falsely claiming that the presidential race had been rigged to favor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Congressman André Fernandes, a member of former President Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party, authored the request to create a joint congressional committee, which will have 15 senators and 15 House members. The committee’s stated purpose is to “investigate acts of action and omission that occurred on January 8,” but a closer look at the wording of the request makes the lawmakers’ intentions clearer.

The request employs the passive voice a lot, citing “acts practiced by human action in the headquarters of the three powers of the Republic.” But it fails to mention that the demonstrators were hardcore supporters of Mr. Bolsonaro — or that they had been camped near the Army headquarters in Brasília. The text also mentions the possible presence of “infiltrated people,” echoing a conspiracy theory according to which anti-Bolsonaro agents were the ones responsible for turning the rally into a full-blown riot.

Senator Jorge Kajuru of Goiás, a critic of the now-defunct Bolsonaro administration, told The Brazilian Report that the select committee’s purpose is “to shield Mr. Bolsonaro and blame Lula” for the January 8 riots. “The committee is an attack on intelligence,” he said.

Lawmakers close to the Lula administration oppose the initiative and are trying to get signatories of the request to withdraw their support — an effort that is unlikely to work, considering the margin of support. 

Congressman Orlando...