Last night, a man attempted to bomb the Brazilian Supreme Court. According to BBC, the man has been identified as Francisco Wanderly Luiz, who unsuccessfully stood in council elections for former President Jair Bolsonaro’s Political Party. Bolsonaro himself called for an “environment of unity,” saying that Brazil needed to “once again cultivate an environment suitable for different ideas to confront each other peacefully”.
The attack hardens opposition to the political return of the former President Bolsonaro. The far right supporters blame the Supreme Court for silencing them, this idea further polarizes the country which has recently experienced a surge in political violence. It may also hinder Bolsonaro’s hopes to reverse his ban on running for office until 2030 due to his baseless attacks on the legitimacy of the 2022 election. According to The Washington Post Many people believe that this attack demonstrates an attack on democracy, which in recent years has grappled with political instability fueled by rampant misinformation, deepening polarization and the rising threat of violence.
The attack rattled Brazil because of where they occurred, on Praça dos Três Poderes – the square in the capital where the Supreme Court, the presidential palace and Congress are located. (BBC) According to The Washington Post, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said Thursday morning. “The impunity experienced by the people who have attacked our democracy resulted in other actions, like the one from yesterday. … His idea was to get inside and explode a bomb inside the federal Supreme Court.”. This means that although there were no other casualties beside the attacker, the attack could’ve come with a far worse result, where more people were harmed.
Also according to The Washington Post, there were two bombings. The first occurred at At 7:30 p.m., when a car exploded outside the Brazilian Congress’s lower chamber. Less than a minute later, more explosions rattled Brazil’s Supreme Court offices. A man was found dead outside the Supreme Court, having apparently killed himself, authorities said. No other people were harmed in the attack other than Francisco Luiz, who died, and there was no damage done to any structure. The second bombing is that of which is believed to have killed Luiz.
According to Reuters, The attack has been compared to the riots on the capital, which occured on Jan. 8 last year, when Bolsonaro supporters rampaged through the court and other government buildings to protest his electoral defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The bombing comes as federal police are wrapping up an investigation into Bolsonaro’s alleged role behind the Jan. 8 riots and a plot to overturn election results with military backing.
Ever since Bolsonaro’s rise to presidency in 2018, Brazil has experienced various instances of political violence, including the riots to the capital on January 18 2023. This attack was not only a violent and dangerous attack to the human life, but also an attack on democracy.
Written by Julia Dos Santos
