Society

A year after Rio’s “most lethal police raid,” mothers still ask for justice

Residents of Jacarezinho say little has changed since a May 2021 drug bust left 28 dead. Police abuse remains commonplace

protest jacarezinho police
Residents of Jacarezinho still complain of police abuse. Photo: Natália Scarabotto for The Brazilian Report

Justice and peace: one year on from a brutal police massacre in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio de Janeiro, that is all the victims’ families are asking for. In the most lethal law enforcement raid in the city’s history, 28 people died last May as police officers stormed the neighborhood seeking to dismantle local drug trafficking operations. 

Mothers of the victims are revolted by the lack of progress in investigations, while the relationship between Jacarezinho and law enforcement has gotten no better. In January, the neighborhood was among the first to be occupied by a new Rio de Janeiro police project, known as Cidade Integrada, or ‘Integrated City.’ 

Residents complain of abuse and violence from officers.

“The state has to stop treating [the Jacarezinho victims] as if they were garbage. They are not. They are our children,” said Sandra Gomes, mother of 21-year-old Matheus Gomes, who was killed during the Jacarezinho shootout. “Another Mother’s Day facing this pain. Our struggle hurts every day, but we are the voice of our children and no one will silence us.”

Residents of Jacarezinho organized two protests this weekend, to honor the victims and their families. Demonstrators marched through the neighborhood’s streets in the afternoon, holding placards and demanding justice. At the end of the protest, they unveiled a plaque with the names of 27 of the 28 victims, excluding the fallen police officer, André Leonardo de Mello Frias.

Ediluze Silva Bezerra, 67: “A lot of pain … a lot of anger … Why didn't they take my life and leave my son?" Photo: Natália Scarabotto for The Brazilian Report
Ediluze Silva Bezerra, 67: “A lot of pain … a lot of anger … Why didn’t they take my life and leave my son?” Photo: Natália Scarabotto for The Brazilian Report

Ediluze Silva Bezerra, another mother, was unable to hold back the tears. In between sobs, the 67-year-old attempted to quantify her struggle. “A lot of pain … a lot of anger … Why didn’t they take my life and leave my son?”

Later, the mothers of the deceased held a more intimate meeting with the victims’ relatives. Since the tragedy, they have come together to share their grief. Some have taken ill or been thrust into financial woes, previously relying on their sons to pay household bills.

“Since Matheus died, I started taking three medications for anxiety and depression and my diabetes got worse,” Ms. Gomes tells The Brazilian Report. “For the first few months, I cried every day. I didn’t want to get out of bed.”

She was only able to go back to her...

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