Congress creates joint select committee on January 8 riots

Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco on Wednesday read before a joint congressional sitting a motion presented by pro-Bolsonaro lawmakers creating a select committee on the January 8 riots, to be made of 16 senators and 16 House members. 

This moves ahead with an inquiry that promises to be highly politicized, and which will run in parallel with law enforcement work scrutinizing those who stormed government buildings or incited far-right mobs to do so.

The motion is authored by Congressman André Fernandes, a member of Jair Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party who is himself investigated by the Supreme Court for his participation in the January 8 assault. 

In the days following Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s January 1 inauguration, far-right social media networks called on supporters of Mr. Bolsonaro to flock to Brasília for a grand rally to question the new government’s legitimacy. Led by Mr. Bolsonaro, the far-right for months claimed that the 2022 presidential election was rigged and urged the Armed Forces to prevent a peaceful transition of power. 

The rally quickly evolved into a full-blown riot, with protesters overwhelming police and creating chaotic and violent scenes in the heart of the country’s federal capital. Shouting demonstrators mobbed...