Brazil | Failed attack on the Supreme Court, the attacker is dead

(Brasilia) A man carrying explosives died Wednesday evening in Brasilia after trying in vain to enter the building of the Supreme Court of Brazil, a failed “attack” according to the authorities.

This attempted attack targeting a major institution of Brazilian democracy awakens memories of the far-right riots against the seats of the executive, legislative and judicial branches in the same square in the capital in January 2023.

It also takes place in a particularly strong context: left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is hosting a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week and a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Brasilia.

“First there was the explosion (of a) car”, then an “individual approached the Federal Supreme Court, tried to enter, did not succeed and the explosion is produced in front of the door,” Brasilia Governor Celina Leao told the press.

According to preliminary information, it was a “suicide”, continued the governor. She mentioned the trail of “a lone wolf”, while explaining that it was not possible at the moment to determine his identity because the body “is still loaded with explosives”.

The Supreme Court is located on the Place des Trois-Pouvoirs, where it faces the presidential palace and the Parliament.

Lula was not at the presidential palace at the time of the explosions, a presidential spokesperson told AFP.

Car on fire

The two explosions occurred within a short period of time around 7:30 p.m. (local time, 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time) and caused no injuries.

Police conducting a patrol spotted the vehicle on fire and surrounded by smoke and saw the individual rushing out, reported Sergeant Santos, of the Federal District Military Police (which includes Brasilia).

“There is a kind of bomb in the car, several explosives connected by bricks, but it did not completely catch fire,” he detailed.

The federal police announced that they had opened an investigation into “the attacks”, without further details.

A little earlier, an AFP photographer had seen the lifeless body of a man on site. “We can confirm that there is a body before the Federal Supreme Court,” a spokesperson for the federal police confirmed to AFP.

The court initially announced that at the end of Wednesday’s session, “two loud explosions were heard and the judges were evacuated from the building for safety.” Staff on site were also evacuated “as a precautionary measure”.

G20 to Rio

The presidential palace is closed and no one can enter, noted an AFP photographer. In pouring rain, the entire square was cordoned off by an imposing deployment of security forces.

Laiana Costa, an official at the Union Audit Court, another official body, told local media that she saw a “man passing”: “Suddenly I heard a noise, I looked behind, there was fire and smoke.”

On January 8, 2023, a week after Lula’s return to power, thousands of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, his far-right predecessor defeated in the presidential election at the end of 2022, stormed and ransacked the seats of institutions on the square. of the Three Powers.

The authorities finally regained control of the situation in the face of Bolsonarist rioters contesting the defeat of their champion, but the damage was considerable.

The attacks of January 8 were “very significant, sad too, and of course led to a change in the security rules of all powers, of all buildings housing the three powers,” noted the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco .

Among other sensitive investigations, Alexandre de Moraes, a powerful judge of the Supreme Court, is leading the investigations into this alleged “coup d’état” attempt.

Lula will host a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday and Tuesday, bringing together most of the leaders of the world’s main economies.

On Wednesday, he is due to receive the Chinese president on a state visit to Brasilia.