RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian authorities vowed Monday to protect democracy and punish thousands of supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed and trashed the nation’s highest seats of power in chaos with striking similarities to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The protesters swarmed into Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace on Sunday. Many have said they want the Brazilian army to restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power and oust the newly inaugurated leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Police on were breaking down a pro-Bolsonaro encampment outside a military building Monday and detained some 1,200 people there, the justice ministry’s press office told The Associated Press.
