Brazil police question hundreds of detainees after anti-government attack

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva calls storming of key government buildings 'an attempt to overthrow democracy'

Pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets of Sao Paulo on Monday to demand accountability for the supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro who attacked the country’s top government institutions on Sunday. Bloomberg

Thousands of people gathered in cities across Brazil to repudiate the attacks. EPA

A smashed window at Planalto Palace in Brasilia. Reuters

Demonstrators march holding a banner that reads in Portuguese: 'We are democracy.' AP

Bolsonaro supporters who were arrested following Sunday's attacks gesture from inside a bus while leaving Federal Police headquarters in Brasilia. AFP

Demonstrators during a pro-government protest in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Monday. Bloomberg

A Brazilian poses for a photo outside the house where Mr Bolsonaro is reportedly staying in Reunion, Florida. EPA

At the pro-government protest in Sao Paulo on Monday night. Bloomberg

A Bolsonaro supporter waves Brazil's flag from a police bus in Brasilia. Reuters

Demonstrators accuse Bolsonaro supporters of trying to stage a coup. Bloomberg

Demonstrators in Sao Paulo. Bloomberg

Demonstrators during a pro-government protest in Sao Paulo. Bloomberg

Demonstrators during a pro-government protest in Sao Paulo. Bloomberg

Mr Bolsonaro on his hospital bed in Kissimmee, Florida. Twitter / AFP

Supporters of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rally in solidarity with Brazilian democracy in Boston, Massachusetts. AFP

Brazilian police on Tuesday were questioning about 1,000 protesters held in an overcrowded gymnasium in the capital after anti-government mobs attacked public buildings at the weekend, as the country's new government led by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva worked to overcome the crisis.

Critics condemned the cramped and squalid conditions at the gymnasium, claiming the detainees — some of them elderly — did not have sufficient access to food or medical assistance.

Most of the supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro were detained as troops dismantled a camp on Monday in the capital Brasilia. The camp had acted as a base for demonstrators who set off on Sunday to storm Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace.

Protesters at the camp outside army headquarters had called for a military coup to overturn the October election, in which the leftist Mr da Silva narrowly defeated Mr Bolsonaro, who made baseless claims of a rigged election.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is running investigations into the “anti-democratic” protests, vowed in a speech on Tuesday to combat the “terrorists” calling for a coup.

“Democracy will prevail and Brazilian institutions will not bend,” said Mr Moraes at the swearing-in of a new head of the federal police.

Thousands of pro-democracy protesters took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo on Monday night to demand accountability for the attacks.

“These people need to be punished, the people who ordered it need to be punished, those who gave money for it need to be punished,” Bety Amin, a 61-year-old therapist, said on Sao Paulo’s main boulevard.

The word “DEMOCRACY” was stretched across the back of her shirt.

“They don’t represent Brazil. We represent Brazil,” she told The Associated Press.

The pro-democracy protesters’ push for accountability evokes memories of an amnesty law that for decades has protected military members accused of abuse and murder during the country’s 1964-85 dictatorship.

The detainees, who have had to sleep on the ground at the gymnasium, some wrapped in Brazilian flags, complained to a Reuters journalist that they were being held indefinitely and poorly fed.

They sang and took selfies with their phones, videos posted on social media showed.

Opposition Senator Marcos do Val, who has denounced the Brasilia riots as a blunder for the political right, told journalists outside the gym that many of those detained “are paying for being in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

'Nothing was done'

Mr da Silva's government is working to overcome fallout from the rampage, which many have compared to the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by supporters of then-president Donald Trump.

Like Mr Trump, Mr Bolsonaro did not concede defeat after failing in his re-election bid.

Investigations may also sprawl far beyond Brasilia. Pro-Bolsonaro militants discussed on social media their plans to disrupt motorways and oil refineries to cause economic chaos in synch with their storming of the capital.

The violence stunned Mr da Silva's government and could delay economic policy announcements that were planned for this week by an administration eager to show results.

On Monday night, Mr da Silva, who took office on January 1, met the head of the Supreme Court, congressional leaders and state governors in a show of national unity to condemn the riots. They visited the ransacked Supreme Court building, which was the site most damaged by the pro-Bolsonaro rioters.

The President accused the rioters of trying to overthrow democracy and questioned why the army had not discouraged calls for a military coup.

“People were openly calling for a coup outside the barracks, and nothing was done. No general lifted a finger to tell them they could not do that,” Mr da Silva said. He accused some security forces of being complicit with rioters.

Meanwhile, Mr Bolsonaro, who flew to the US state of Florida days before his term ended, remained in hospital in Orlando after complaining of intestinal pain related to a stabbing attack that occurred during his 2018 election campaign.

His doctor said he has an intestinal blockage that was not serious and would probably not need surgery.

In an interview with CNN Brasil, Mr Bolsonaro said he had planned to stay in the US until the end of January, but now plans to return home sooner to see his doctors.

“I intend to bring forward my return because in Brazil the doctors already know about my problem of intestinal obstruction due to the stab wound,” he said.

Mr Bolsonaro faces several investigations before the Supreme Court in Brazil and his future in the US — where he travelled with a visa issued to heads of state, diplomats and other government officials — is in question.

Public prosecutors asked on Tuesday for a federal audit court to freeze the ex-president's assets in light of Sunday's vandalism, according to a report on the website of CNN Brasil — a move outside the traditional scope of that court.

Agencies contributed to this report

A meeting of the University of Sao Paulo Collective in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The collective invited all citizens, social and democratic entities, parties and movements to speak out against supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro who attacked government institutions in Brasilia on Sunday. EPA

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meets government ministers and other officials following the riot. Getty Images

Workers clear debris left by pro-Bolsonaro supporters during the riot. Getty

Damaged portraits hang in the Brazilian National Congress after the riot, in which more than 1,200 people were detained. Getty

Damage to the Brazilian National Congress following the riot. Getty

Workers clear debris after the riot. Getty

Mr da Silva has called for peace after what he described as a coup attempt. Getty

Damage to the Brazilian National Congress caused by the riot. Getty

Agents inspect a room inside Planalto Palace, the office of the President. AP

Photos of former Brazilian presidents lay scattered on the floor of the lobby of Planalto Palace. AP

Supporters of Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia. Protesters pushed through police barricades and stormed into the Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court buildings on Sunday. Reuters

Bolsonaro supporters are detained. Reuters

The security forces take action as supporters of Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate outside Brazil’s National Congress building in Brasilia. Reuters

Brazil's Supreme Court building was one of those attacked. AFP

President Lula da Silva in the presidential palace after it was stormed by supporters of Jair Bolsonaro. AP

Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro invading several governmental building are confronted by the security forces in Brasilia. AFP

Members of the security forces confront Bolsonaro supporters. AFP

The scenes were reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol building by supporters of then-president Donald Trump, an ally of Mr Bolsonaro. Reuters

The security forces make arrests. AFP

A supporter of Jair Bolsonaro inside the presidential palace. Reuters

Hundreds of Bolsonaro backers have refused to accept leftist Mr da Silva's election victory. Reuters

Some of the demonstrators ransacked offices and smashed windows. Reuters

Police confront supporters of Jair Bolsonaro invading the presidential palace. EPA

Some Bolsonao supporters ransacked offices and caused damage. Reuters

A police vehicle crashes into a fountain as Bolsonaro supporters invade the National Congress building. AFP

Startling images on social media showed a tide of people storming the national Congress, many waving Brazilian flags. AFP